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legendarysharpshooter · 4 years

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Lost Prince (S1) Prologue Pt. 2

Pairing: Shance

First, Next,

A03

The first time Lance meets Keith, he’s a bit baffled. The boy, a hybrid of Galra and human has purple skin and large, fuzzy purple ears. The sclera of his eyes are yellow and his irises purple much like his mom. He gets the black hair from his father though it’s far thicker and coarser than any human. His canines are sharper than a human’s but duller than a Galra’s. His nails are as sharp as a cat’s.

Keith is eight when Krolia finally decides he’s old enough to meet Lance. She brings Keith over to Lance's home.

“Lance,” Krolia says crouching down to his level. Hand placed on Keith's back, she pushes him toward Lance. “This is Keith. Do you remember him? He was very little last time you met.”

Lance looks the young half-Galra over, curious. Last time they met, Keith's ear were huge. Now he seems to have at least grown into them. They twitch as his gaze looks the young boy all over.

“His face looks weird,” Keith mutters, and Lance jerks back, surprised and hurt. “What are those things on his face?” Lance feels his face heat up, no doubt turning red. Why would he say that?! Keith has marks on his face too!

“Keith…” Krolia admonishes.

“Yeah well…” Lance sputters. He looks Keith up and down. “At least I don't have elephant ears!”

“Lance!” Ourania snaps. She smacks him on the back of the head. “Be nice!”

“He started it!” Lance insists with a pout, as he glowers at Keith. Keith, meanwhile, sniffles, ears falling as his eyes fill with tears.

“Momma…” he mutters, voice wavering. He turns into Krolia's waiting embrace and buries his face in her chest. Lance averts his gaze, feeling guilty for upsetting the younger kid.

“I'm sorry…” he mumbles, eyes fixed on the floor. Keith hiccups in his mom's embrace. “I said I was sorry! And I mean it!” He looks at his mom and then Krolia. “Can we go play now?”

Ourania sighs and shakes her head.

“It's okay,” Krolia says, rubbing Keith's back. “Keith’s just a lil sensitive. Why don't we all have a snack and let Keith calm down and then you can both play?”

“Okay,” Lance replies. Keith's response is muffled by his mom, but he ultimately agrees as well.

Lance spends the rest of the afternoon showing Keith all his Legos.

“A bodyguard?”

“Yes. We have received word from the Blade that Galra activity has increased nearby.”

“But Altea is the most protected place on Earth,” Lance protests. “And I never leave the planet. Why would I be in any danger?” His mom sighs, cupping his cheek gently and rubbing her thumb across his marks. Her face creases with worry.

“My son,” she says. “Crown Prince of Altea. Descendent of the Lost Prince. Future Paladin of th-“

“No!” Lance tears himself away from her, hands covering his ears and eyes squeezing shut. He paces away, trying to push down his rising anxiety.

“Lance…”

“I’m not…” he mutters. He stops by a window and gazes down at the Black Lion’s resting place. “I can’t be…” He knows he’s not the right person for it.

“The Lion communicates with you, Lance,” his mom points out. “It-“

There’s a knock on the door. She sighs. It seems this conversation will have to wait.

“Come in,” Ourania calls. The door slides open moments later. A boy, not much older than Lance, steps into the room. He has a tuft of black hair sticking up on his forehead. It reminds Lance of a bunny’s tail. Lance’s eyes roam down and then up the other male’s body, gaze landing firmly on his pecs before returning to his stormy grey eyes.

He raises a brow at the young Altean, giving him a knowing look. It has Lance blushing all the way down his neck.

“Lance,” his mom says, oblivious to the exchange, and looking to her son. “This is Takashi Shirogane. He is our official representative from the Galaxy Garrison and will be acting as your bodyguard starting today.”

“Please,” he says, holding a hand out to Lance. “Call me Shiro. It’s nice to meet you.” Lance stares at the hand, then at his mom and finally at Shiro. His face twists in annoyance. Shiro can’t possibly be that much older than him, yet he’s expected to be his body guard? How does that make sense?

“Shiro is considered a prodigy among the Garrison,” his mom offers. “He’s exceeded his peers in all areas of study and training and comes with high recommendations among all personnel. Given his age and experience, we believe he is best suited for the job and will become a valuable asset to your team. Not to mention…” She gives her son a knowing look. “I’m sure you two will become great friends.” Lance huffs, frowning at his mom as his face grows warm once again, before relenting and taking Shiro’s hand into his.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Shiro.”

“I’m really sorry but… I have to go.”

“Can you at least wait until morning? To let Keith say a proper goodbye?”

Their voices are muffles but Keith can hear every word with his ear pressed against the door. He was supposed to be asleep hours ago. So deep in slumber that nothing could wake him. Nothing except the sound of his mom coming home. He hears her sigh.

“They need me to leave as soon as possible,” she says. “This is an urgent mission an- “

“So nobody else can go on it?” There’s a long pause before Krolia finally responds.

“Kolivan needs me on this one.” Keith reaches up, carefully turns the knob, and opens the door just a crack. From his spot, he can see both parents standing in the kitchen. His dad leans against the counter, expression grim and cheeks wet. His mom’s back is to him, but he can tell that her arms are at least crossed. “I’m sorry, Jack.”

His dad sighs.

“What am I supposed to tell Keith?”

“I know it’s not ideal,” she replies. “But Keith is smart, and this isn’t forever. I’ll be back some day.”

“You should at least say goodbye.”

“I don’t want to wake him…” she says, glancing briefly behind her. They lock eyes and she tenses before slowly turning around and walking over to his door. Scared, Keith quickly shuts the door and runs back to his bed, jumping in and covering himself with his blanket. He lays back down and pretends to sleep.

The door opens moments later.

“Keith…” He squeezes his eyes tight, holding his stuffed hippo close. The bed dips with his mom’s weight. She places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re awake,” she murmurs.

He blinks his eyes open and looks back at her.

“Why are you up so late?” she asks.

“Are you really leaving?”

“It’s only for a little while…”

“Oh…” He looks at his hippo and then back at her. “How long is that?” She shakes her head.

“I don’t know, dear.”

“Oh… Can we still go see a movie this weekend?” he asks, eyes hopeful. Her eyes brim with unshed tears as she gazes down at her only child. She brushes his hair out of his face.

“I’ll be sure to meet you and daddy there, okay?” she replies, unable to speak the truth. “You can pick out the popcorn and everything.” Keith looks down at his hippo with tired eyes. He blinks himself awake and yawns before shoving the stuffed animal towards her.

“To help you sleep,” he explains.

“But don’t you need him?” He shakes his head.

“You can have him, but you have to promise to bring him back, okay?” Krolia smiles and leans down to place a kiss on his forehead. She holds up her pinky. Keith looks at it and hooks his own pinky around her. Krolia gives their hands a little shake.

“It’s a promise.”

He stares at the crystal in his hand. The top of it is wrapped up with a cord long enough to fit around his neck.

“My mom helped me make it,” Lance explains. “And I’m not saying you should be ashamed of who you are but… I know the other kids have been mean to you… um… yeah… it just… if you put it on, it’ll make you… look… human….” Lance huffs. It made so much more sense when his mom explained it to him… Keith frowns, brows creasing as he looks up at the young prince.

“I don’t need help,” he grumbles, looking back at the crystal.

“We’ve seen the scratches, Keith,” Lance replies. “And my mom says you’ve been having a hard time since your mom left.” Keith sucks in a breath, ears flattening as he bares his sharp teeth at the Altean.

“We just want you to feel more comfortable at school,” Shiro adds, trying to defuse the situation before things can escalate. It’d do no good if Keith got any more upset. It would just agitate Lance and then he’d have a brawl on his hands. “It’s entirely up to you if you want to use it or not, and it’s really only for school to help stop the bullies.”

“I just wanted to do something nice,” Lance mutters, crossing his arms with a frown. Keith huffs, glare softening as he looks down at his gift.

“Is it really gonna stop the bullies?” he asks.

“Maybe not right away,” Shiro admits. “But I’d also like to extend an offer to join Lance in his training. I can teach you some self-defense if you wanted.”

“Yeah!” Lance says, eyes lighting up in excitement. “We can be training buddies!”

Keith stares at the crystal for a long moment. If he wears the necklace he can look human… the other kids won’t be able to make fun of him anymore. He’ll look just like everyone else. He’ll look like his dad… and not like his mom.

His mom who left… who left and never came back. The mom who lied to him. He grips the necklace tight, making up his mind.

He slips the cord over his neck.

The change is instantaneous. The purple of his skin fades until he’s pale like his dad. He feels his ear shrink and reshape, fur falling off in clumps. His claws recede until their blunt and round.

Excited, he runs to the bathroom and stares at his face in the mirror. His eyes have lost their yellow tint, but the irises remain purple. His teeth, while still sharp have dulled slightly.

He looks human.

It’s raining the day of the funeral. Lance stands with Keith throughout the entire thing, holding an umbrella to keep them dry. Not that Keith seems to notice much away. His eyes and face are red, yet the young boy refusing to cry. Occasionally, a tear will slip out or he’ll let out a small sniffle, but he otherwise remains quiet.

The pair watches Shiro and the other pallbearers carry the casket out to the hearse. Once it’s loaded up, Ourania ushers all three of them into the car to follow the vehicle to the cemetery.

Keith stares straight ahead for the entire ride.

The actual burial is a private affair with only close friends showing, Keith being his only family on Earth.

“I just need a moment alone,” Keith mutters once the casket has been lowered, others slowly trailing back to their cars. Lance hesitates, unwilling to leave his friend and unsure if he even should. Shiro places a hand on his shoulder and nods towards the car. They have a silent conversation before the Prince relents.

Keith takes the offered umbrella and is left to be with his father.

They never manage to get in touch with Krolia.

Keith moves in with Shiro two days after the funeral.

Lance grunts as he’s thrown across the room and lands on his back. The training mats may be soft, but Keith is strong, and he hits hard. The young Altean rolls out of the way just in time for Keith to bring a fist down where his face used to be.

“Easy, Keith!” Lance shouts, scrambling back to his feet as his opponent closes in. He dodges out of the way of another onslaught, darting over to the weapons rack.

He grabs a gun and levels it at the boy, only for it to be kicked out of his grasp moments later.

“Whu-“ Lance stares at his empty hands, the gun skittering across the floor to his left. He rounds on their trainer with a scowl. “Shiro!”

“This isn’t weapons training, Lance,” Shiro reprimands. Lance huffs, pouting at Shiro before directing his attention back on Keith. His opponent crouches down and raises his fists ready for whatever Lance was about to throw his way. Lance smirks, stepping back onto the mats and taking up the same position.

“Bring it, mullet.”

“This is his fourth fight this year,” the principal says, voice muffles through the door. Keith sits outside the room, cheek swollen from the hit he’d taken earlier. He glances over at his partner in crime.

“And now he’s brought Lance into this?” Lance slouches in his seat holding an ice pack to his eye, frown firmly planted on his face. Keith looks to the boy across from them. The one that started it all. It’s his fault he was picking on Keith….

“I assure you there is some misunderstanding here,” Shiro’s deep voice rumbles through the door.

“Misunderstanding or not, fighting is not tolerated in this institution,” the principal argues. “And I will not have some… half-breed sully the name of-“

“Both of those boys have been training in self-defense for quite some time now, and while Keith may have a bit of a temper, both know better than to get into some altercation for no reason,” Lance’s mom chimes in. “It’s my understand Keith has been bullied for years, so what, pray tell, are you doing to address the bullying on campus?”

Keith and Lance share a look as the principal sputter, trying and failing to come up with some excuse.

“My Queen, you must understand,” the principal starts. “The boy-“

“Keith may have a temper,” Ourania hisses. “But he does not act unprovoked and that is something that will be addressed by myself. So please, explain to me why you have been allowing the other students to bully him?”

“I…” Her response dies down and the three students waiting, struggling to listen in on their hushed words. The boy across from them seems smug when the door finally opens and all eyes land on Keith and Lance. The principal looks between both boys before turning to address the third. Slowly, the boy rises and enters the principal’s office with one last glance back.

“Keith. Lance.” The two boys sit up straights and look up at Ourania. While she looks displeased, her voice and eyes are kind, sympathetic. “It has come to my attention that this school is not best suited for you both. Effective immediately, we will be sending you to the Galaxy Garrison’s program to further your education. Shiro has put in a good word for you both so please don’t take it for granted. As far as this fight goes… We will discuss your punishment at home, okay?”

Krolia would be the first to admit her surprise upon seeing Keith for the first time in three years. He looks just like his dad, the only hint that they might be related in the purple gaze Keith shares with her. He looks… human, and Krolia isn’t too sure what to make of it.

Keith stares at her for a long moment, eyes wide in shock, before his face is twisting into a scowl. He’s gotten taller, she notes as she moves closer to her son. She holds her arms out to wrap him in a hug.

“Don’t touch me!” he snaps, pushing her away.

“Kei-“

“Where were you?!” Krolia’s mouth snaps shut, eyes wide as the boy seethes with anger. “You said you were coming back! Why did you lie to me?!”

“I’m sor-“

“I needed you!” he shouts, eyes shining with unshed tears. “We both needed you… and then I was alone.” Krolia watches him for a long moment. His shoulders shake with suppressed emotions. Carefully, she wraps her arms around him and pulls him close.

“I can’t make up for the pain I’ve caused you,” she mutters, blinking away tears of her own. “And I know that you were hurting for a long time… if I had been able to, I would’ve come back sooner. It was never my intention to abandon you, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Keith.”

Slowly, Keith returns her embrace and holds her tight, sobbing into her shoulder. Tears flow freely between the mother and son.

Eventually, the tears dry up, and Keith takes her to his father’s grave.

The next morning, Keith leaves with his mom to begin training with the Blade of Marmora.

He sits among the field of flowers, breeze caressing his face as he gazes sorrowfully out at the landscape. Desert stretches all around Altea’s little oasis. Sometimes he wishes the fields and trees would stretch on for miles. Instead, he is left to gaze at rock formations, the setting sun painting them shades of red. Behind him, stands the Cavern of the Lion, the Black Lion’s resting place.

A single tear trickles down his face.

“I told them I couldn’t do it,” he mutters, looking down at his hand. He sniffles and wipes his face.

He knew he wasn’t good enough. Why would the Black Lion choose him of all people? He’s not special like any of his ancestors before him… he’s certainly not Akiva.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Shiro says, taking a seat next to him. “It was only your first try. I’m sure with enough practice you’ll get it eventually.”

“I’ve spent my whole life with the Black Lion… if it hasn’t responded to me by now…” Lance sighs. “I don’t know that it ever will.”

“So maybe you weren’t ready. Or maybe the Lion wasn’t ready. I’m sure it’ll happen eventually. Remember patience-“

“Yields focus,” Lance finishes for him.

The surface of Kerberos is barren. Lance stares out at the landscape from the comfort of the station. Matt types away at a screen on the other side of the room. Outside, he sees Sam moving around the surface waving some object back and forth. He squints but can’t really tell what is in Sam’s hand.

Lance sighs. He should have stayed on Earth… helping Hunk study… and cook. Man, he misses Hunk’s cooking… and his family. Why did he even come on this mission again? He hears a distant rumble in the back of his mind.

Oh right… that’s why. A hand comes down on his shoulder, jolting the young prince out of his daydream.

“Just a few more days and we’ll be on our way home. Hang in there, Lance,” Shiro says.

“There’s nothing to do here,” Lance complains, pressing his face against the window. “I’m bored.”

“I told you you didn’t have to come,” Shiro responds. “We’re just here to collect data.” Lance sighs. He knows he didn’t have to come. There was no point in him tagging along really… he just…

“I needed to get off Earth for a bit…”

“You can’t run from your problems forever, you know.” Lance frowns, eyes trailing Sam as he moves about down below. Yeah… he knows that too. He can’t even say he’s running really. Just taking a break from life for a few months.

Lance blinks and squints as he looks out at the surface of the moon.

“Does it seem darker to you out there?” he asks. Frowning, Shiro looks out the window as well, leaning forward to see Sam.

“Wha-“ The station shakes, jolting all of them out of place. Lance stumbles into the wall and peers outside, frantically trying to figure out what just happened. Outside, he spots Sam running back towards the station arms waving frantically. Matt scrambles out of his seat and runs to the front of the room, opening the comms.

“Dad?” he calls. “What’s going on?”

“Return to the ship immediately,” Sam’s voice rings out. “It’s the Galra.”

Matt sucks in a breath and quickly begins shutting down the station, fingers flying over the keyboard. Shiro grabs Lance by the arm and drags him out of the room. They run through the halls together and make it to the loading bay. The station shutters as the Galra land another hit.

Lance stumbles into Shiro as they make their way over to the ship.

“We have to wait for Sam and Matt!” Lance shouts as Shiro begins powering up the vessel. Shiro ignores him and continues preparing the small carrier for launch. “Shiro!”

“There’s no time, Lance,” he shouts back. Scowling, Lance rises from his seat and heads back the way they came despite Shiro’s protests. Shiro grabs him and pulls him back inside before he can step out.

“We can’t just leave them,” Lance growls, rounding on his friend.

“I agreed to come on this mission because I was the most qualified,” Shiro growls back. “But that doesn’t outweigh my duty to protect you. If we lose you, we lose everything.”

“I’m not that special,” Lance argues. Shiro’s face twists in disagreement. “Sam and Matt though…” Lance continues before he can argue. There no time for that. “They are, and we can’t afford to lose them.” Shiro huffs, looking up at the ceiling as he weighs their options.

“We can prepare the ship for launch,” he acquiesces. “But if they don’t come in the next minute when we need to leave.”

Shiro stares at him for a long moment before head back to prepare for departure. Lance watches him before looking out at the hangar. Matt and his dad appear with just seconds to spare, jumping onto the ship. The ship darts out of the station and into space.

“We need to send an alert to Earth,” Sam says, taking a seat next to Shiro. He puts a headset on and prepares to send a signal. He opens the line just as a beam of purple light rains down on them. The ship halts. Three set of eyes look at that large Galra ship floating above them.

Shiro springs into action, jumping out of his seat and dragging Lance to the back of the ship.

“Shi-“ He pushes Lance into an escape pod. Lance spins around just as the glass closes him in. “No!” He pounds on the door. Shiro stares at him for a long moment, eyes full of regret. “Shiro, please!”

“I should have never let you come,” Shiro replies, voice muffled by the glass. He places his hand over Lance’s fist and reaches for the eject button. Tears spring to Lance’s eyes, as he slides them shut, unable to do anything but accept this fate. In a moment, he finds himself jettisoning away from the ship and out of the clutches of the Galra.

Shiro’s final word ring through his mind in the silence of space.

“Goodbye, Lance.”

#voltron #vld #shance #lost prince #fanfic

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tiny-opal-essence · 5 years

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Pocket Paladin Chpt 17

Whatever can go wrong will go wrong

Previously...

Team Voltron has discovered that the person they rescued from Lotor was not Shiro, but a clone with Shiro's memories. While initially unsure of how to proceed, they are fully supportive of the renamed Ryo.

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Lance blearily opened his eyes. It was still dark in the room.

How long until breakfast?

He shoved Keith’s bandana off and got out of his bed. He walked over to the edge of the dollhouse floor to check the clock on Keith’s wall.

Still a few varga. Yay.

Lance had been having some trouble sleeping through the night lately. Even though the doll bed was a huge improvement from the improvised cotton balls and Kleenex, it still wasn’t designed for someone to actually sleep in comfortably. He didn’t think it was really that important to mention to anyone. There are more important things than one person’s comfort.

He looked over and saw Keith was still asleep in his bed.

At least one of us is comfortable. Glad I didn’t wake him up.

Keith’s face was relaxed for once.

He looks so soft. Huh. Never thought “soft” would be a word associated with Keith.

Lance sat down on the edge of the floor, kicking his legs slightly.

I’m glad he and Ryo were able to talk things out yesterday. It would kind of suck for Voltron if the black and red paladins weren’t speaking to each other. We don’t really have anyone who can sub. At least, not until I’m back to normal. And who knows when that’s going to be.

Lance leaned back on the floor keeping his ankles dangling off the edge.

Even if I do get back to normal, would Blue want me back? Allura’s done such a great job with her.

‘The team does work better without you. You’d hate to ruin all of their progress, right?’

Yeah.

‘They’re better off without you.’

Before Lance could dwell more on those thoughts, he heard a soft *groan*. He sat up and looked over.

Keith’s face that had been relaxed just a moment ago was now scrunched up in discomfort. He started shifting around in his bed while mumbling out something unintelligible.

He’s having a nightmare! I have to help him.

“Keith! Wake up!” Lance called out, but Keith did not wake up.

Maybe I’m too far away. I need to get closer.

Lance stood up and looked off the edge of the dollhouse floor.

Yeah, nothing there to break my fall if I jump. Guess the quickest route is the stairs.

He ran across the room and opened the door to the hallway. He nearly tripped down the stairs in his haste. He stepped down onto the nightstand and saw that Keith was now laying on his back.

“Yo, Mullet!” Keith showed no signs that he heard him.

Quiznak. Still not close enough. Okay. There’s only a couple inches between the nightstand and the pillow. That’s not too far, right?

‘It might as well be the grand canyon at your height.’

Well, if I get a running start, I should make it. I was always good at long jump in gym class.

‘But in class you didn’t have to worry about falling to your death.’

Ok, that’s enough from you, stupid voice. I’m going to make it. Just you watch.

Lance hurried over to the far side of the nightstand and took a deep breath.

Ok, here goes nothing.

He ran back towards Keith and leaped off the edge.

Yes! I made it!

He had landed on the edge of the pillow that was hanging off the bed.

Phew. Wait, no no no no no!

He started sliding down towards the chasm between the bed and nightstand but managed to grab ahold of the pillowcase. He could feel the pillow shifting somewhat beneath him.

Oh yeah, the pillow would shake because Keith’s twitching in his sleep.

Lance began climbing up the pillow making sure to keep a good grip on it in case Keith really started moving around. He could see the beads of sweat on Keith’s forehead.

He looks hot. And not in the good looking kind of way. Ok, maybe partly in the good looking way, but now’s really not the time to focus on my stupid crush on him.

Lance continued climbing along the pillow until he reached the indent caused by Keith’s head. He slid down the incline and came to a stop in front of his cheek. As Lance tried to stand up on the soft pillow, Keith let out another *groan* and moved his head slightly, causing Lance to fall back against his face.

“Really, Keith? I try to help you out and this is the thanks I get? *sigh* You’re lucky you’re cute.” Lance said in good humor as he tried to stand again, this time bracing himself against Keith who had become still once more.

That means he probably didn’t hear me call him cute. Good. Don’t know what he’d think if he found out I like him.

Lance was now standing in front of Keith’s ear.

Let’s hope he can hear me now.

“Keith! Buddy, pal, my dude! Despierta!”

Keith shot awake, causing the pillow to rise up and Lance to fall down on his butt yet again, but he wasn’t too concerned about that since it was a soft landing.

Keith looked around the room as he got his breathing under control. Once his breathing sounded normal, Lance called up to him.

“Glad you finally heard me.”

“Of course I heard you,” Keith said as he turned to sit facing Lance. “You were yelling right in my ear.”

“Heh heh, sorry. You didn’t seem to hear me until I got closer. Did you hear anything else I said?”

Please don’t have heard me say you’re cute, please don’t have heard me say you’re cute.

“No.” Keith lied. “Why?”

“No reason.”

Phew. He didn’t hear that.

But Keith had heard. He had heard Lance say that he was lucky he was cute. He had also heard the sarcasm in the lines before that and assumed the last line was also meant sarcastically. It was a common saying after all.

“Wait a minute, why are you here?”

“Why are any of us here?”

“Lance, you know I mean why are you here sitting on my pillow? And how did you get there?”

“I jumped.”

“What?” Keith said with a blank look on his face as his brain tried to piece things together.

“Well, you were having a nightmare and couldn’t hear me from my bed, so I came over to help you wake up from it.”

“And you jumped down from your room!?”

“No. I would have broken a leg or something if I jumped down from there. I jumped from the nightstand to your pillow.”

Keith looked over and saw the gap between those two objects. He realized just how far of a jump and how long of a fall that would be for Lance at his height.

“What the hell, Lance? Do you realize how dangerous that was for you!?”

“I’ve always been good at long jump. I knew I would make it, and besides. You needed help. Your nightmare seemed pretty bad.”

Keith was too tired to argue with Lance about the dangers of parkour at his height, so he decided to move the conversation in a different direction.

“It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a memory.”

“Oh.” Lance paused for a moment. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe…I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, Keith. If you want to talk, I’m here. If you want to just go back to sleep, that’s fine.”

Keith let out a small *yawn*.

“Maybe you should lie down.”

Don’t want you literally falling asleep on me.

“I should move you back to the nightstand first.”

“Dude, I don’t take up that much room. Here, I’ll even scoot over.” Lance did just that. “Now you’ve got plenty of space.” Lance patted the pillow next to him to emphasize his point.

“But-”

“Lie down, Keith. As long as you go slow it shouldn’t be too shaky for me.”

Keith hesitatingly lied back down on his side. As his head sunk into the pillow, he was only able to keep one eye on Lance as the other one’s vision was blocked by the pillow itself.

Once Keith was still, Lance lied down on his side facing him.

“Draw me like one of your French girls,” Lance said with dramatic flair as he struck the pose.

This earned him a *snicker* from Keith.

“Ha! I got you to laugh!”

“That wasn’t a laugh.”

“It’s close enough!”

Keith rolled his eyes while Lance let out a *snicker* of his own.

“All seriousness though, are you ok, Keith?”

“Yeah. Or mostly, I guess. A lot happened yesterday and it brought up some memories.”

“I can understand that. We were all pretty shocked with Ryo’s reveal.”

“It’s more than that. It just…it feels like everyone who cares about me winds up leaving in the end, willing or not. My mom, my dad, Shiro, twice.”

“Keith-”

“And I know why my mom left. I understand. But that doesn’t change the fact that she left. And I haven’t heard anything from her since finding the Blade of Marmora.”

“Keith, Kolivan told us how much danger she would be put in if any attempts were made to contact her. Remember what happened to his sister, Keerthana?” Lance gently mentioned.

Keith *sighed* “Yeah, I know. It might blow her cover because of how high up in the chain of command she is. But I don’t even know her name! My dad never got the chance to tell me before he died. And Kolivan thinks that if I knew her name I would get Pidge to find her in the Galra Empire’s database.”

“Well, would you?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t contact her though. I know how important her mission is. And I don’t even know what I’d say. It’s just…what if we’re fighting the empire and just happen to kill her before realizing who she is?”

Lance could tell how worried Keith was about that happening.

“Have you told Kolivan why you want to know?”

“No. It’s a stupid thing to worry about.”

“It’s not stupid to worry about your family, Keith.”

Lord knows I worry about mine all the time.

“Easy for you to say. You and your family are close. My mom’s the only family I have and I don’t know her. All I ever got from her was a lockbox with a self-storage key in it. That’s where I found the hoverbike, Marmora sword, and a letter saying that since I was old enough then, my dad would explain everything. Too bad my dad had died 8 years before that.”

“Do you still have the letter?”

“I tore it up after I read it. I was angry.”

“*dramatic gasp* Keith? Angry?” Lance said while trying to hide a smile.

“I was 16, I had anger issues.”

“Newsflash, you still have anger issues.” Lance teasingly responded.

“I’ve gotten better.”

“And we are all proud of you for that.”

There was a bit of comfortable silence between them.

“So…your dad died when you were…8?” Lance did the math in his head.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. I got so sick of people saying that to me at his funeral. Everyone said that if I needed anything all I had to do was ask. What I needed was my dad. It had always been just the two of us. He didn’t talk about my mom much, but when he did, you could see how much he missed her. There was always this hidden sad look on his face. I hated that she was making my dad feel upset by not being there. He said that mom was working and would come back to us someday. I thought she might come to his funeral, but that didn’t happen. Now I know why. He always said she was out of this world. I never realized how literal he was being.”

“Not to interrupt, but props to your dad for one of the best dad jokes ever with the whole ‘out of this world’ cause your mom’s an alien thing.”

“Yeah. He’d’ve liked you.”

Lance perked up slightly at hearing that.

My crush’s dad would have liked me!?

“You both have terrible jokes,” Keith said.

“Hey, my jokes aren’t terrible!” Lance sat up indignantly.

“Okay, they’re not terrible.”

Lance saw the amusement in Keith’s eyes.

“Darn right!” Lance said as he lied back down. He let out a *yawn* a moment later.

“Do you need me to give you a hand back to your bed?” Keith asked.

“Keith, was that a pun?"

“Not an answer.”

“Ok, maybe eventually, but I can stay up a bit longer. I’m comfy.”

“If you say so.”

There was more comfortable silence before Keith spoke up again.

“Sorry for talking so much.”

“Dude, it’s fine. I’m glad you trust me enough to open up more about what you’re going through.”

“You’re not going to tell anyone else, are you?” Keith asked.

“Of course not. This is your tragic backstory. I’m not going to force you to tell the others. That would be rude.” Lance paused for a moment. “I am a bit curious about one thing. How did your dad die? Please don’t feel like you have to answer. I totally understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s ok.” Keith *sighed*. “That’s actually what I was remembering in my dream. He died in a fire. Some sort of freak accident. He barely managed to push me out the door before the house collapsed on him. The only part that didn’t burn down was the shack.”

“Wait, the shack in the desert?”

“*mhmm* I lived there after being kicked out of the Garrison.”

“But you said earlier you grew up in the system. Why didn’t you go to your foster family?”

“I had already aged out of the system by then. I went through a few different foster homes. The last one was nice, but their house never felt like home. It’s ok though. I spent most of my free time at the shack with my hoverbike anyways. Living there just made more sense. My dad had already paid for the land and left it all to me in his will, so I didn’t have to worry about rent.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah.” Keith paused for a moment. “You know what’s ironic? My dad was a firefighter and he died in a fire in his own home. And now I’m the red paladin, the paladin of fire.”

“The universe has a twisted sense of humor sometimes.”

“*mhmm*” Keith agreed. “I can still remember so many details from that day. It had been a dry summer. The house lit up like kindling. I was so scared I couldn’t move. I could hardly hear my dad over the roaring of the fire. He gave me his bandana and told me to put it over my mouth and close my eyes while he grabbed me and ran for the door. That was the last time I saw him alive.”

“Keith, are you ok?” Lance sat up as he saw Keith’s eyes starting to tear up.

“…No.”

“I’m going to hug you now. Is that ok?”

“Yeah.”

Lance moved closer to hug Keith’s face, albeit awkwardly due to the unique surface of the pillow.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that. And I hope that you know none of us would ever leave you by choice. You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not!”

“*heh* Thanks.” Keith sniffled out.

“Anytime.”

Lance tried to make it seem natural, but after several minutes of comforting Keith, even he had to admit

“This is a weird kind of angle for a hug, isn’t it?” Lance felt the air blow past him as Keith *sighed* through his nose.

“-s fine.”

“Yeah, but are you fine?”

“I will be.” Keith’s eyes were clearer now.

“Do you want me to stay with you? In case the nightmare memory comes back?”

Keith had to stop himself from blurting out ‘Yes’. He was surprised how quickly he wanted to respond ‘Yes’ to Lance. He wanted Lance to stay. But that might not be the safest place for Lance to be.

“Aren’t you already technically staying with me since you’re rooming here?”

“Good point, but I wasn’t able to wake you up yelling from the dollhouse. I had to get closer, so it would make sense for me to stay closer to you in case the dream happens again, but I would only do that if you’re ok with it. Do you want me to stay?”

“That might not be the safest idea. What if I roll over in my sleep and hurt you?”

“You’re a pretty sound sleeper. You don’t move around at all. Well, except for nightmares. And as soon as I feel the pillow move, I would know what’s happening and help wake you up from it. It would be fine, long as you’re ok with it.”

“*sigh* Ok. You can stay. Just for tonight.”

“Deal.”

Keith knew he rarely moved in his sleep, yet he was still worried about accidentally hurting Lance. But he trusted that Lance understood the risks. He sat up slowly and reached over towards the dollhouse, grabbed the bandana, and handed it over to Lance before lying back down.

“Thanks, Keith.”

“No problem.”

“Wait, is this the bandana from the fire?”

“Yes?”

“Dude, this is like the only thing you have left of your dad’s. I shouldn’t be using this!” Lance pushed the bandana away from himself.

“It’s fine.”

“But this is probably really special and significant to you.” Lance paused as he realized something. “Oh my God. I’ve been drooling all over the last thing your dad ever gave you!”

“It’s ok. It does mean a lot to me, but you need it more than I do. Besides, your drooling’s not really that noticeable at your height.”

“Yeah, but-“

“I said it’s fine, so it’s fine.”

“If you say so.”

Lance grabbed the bandana and pulled it up to his chin. A part of him still felt a bit guilty about using something that meant so much to Keith, but Keith had said it was fine.

“*heh* Usually I’m the one telling you it’s fine.”

“*heh* Yeah, I guess you are,” Keith responded with a small smile.

Lance could feel his eyelids growing heavy.

Keith *yawned* a moment later and looked over at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late.”

“Or is it getting early?” Lance joked while trying to stifle a *yawn* of his own.

“Either way, it’s probably time for us to get some sleep.” He paused for a moment. “Thanks for listening.”

“No worries, Keith. If you ever want to talk about that stuff again, my door is always open. Or I guess my wall is always open since the wall of the dollhouse is open.”

“Does everything have to be a pun with you?”

“You know you love it.”

-me. But that’s just wishful thinking.

Keith rolled his eyes with a smile. “Goodnight, Lance.”

“Night, Keith.”

It was quiet for a minute.

“You’re staring again,” Lance said teasingly before he opened his eyes.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I’ll just turn around and-”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I’ve gotten used to it. Besides, I know how hard it is to take your eyes off all of this.”

“Oh my God, Lance, just go to sleep.” Keith *groaned* out into his pillow to hide his smile.

“Ok, fine. Buenas Noches, Keith.”

“G’night, Lance.”

This time, they both closed their eyes and fell asleep once more.

It was the best sleep Lance had had in a long time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance had lost track of how long they had been walking. Well, how long everyone but him had been walking given that he was riding in Keith’s utility belt pocket. He would have preferred a jacket pocket, but since the savanna-like planet of Gefahr was so warm, Allura thought it best that everyone wear their armor as it regulated temperature. There was no need for added layers.

Lance had tried to argue for riding on someone’s shoulder since the planet was uninhabited, but was quickly shot down by Hunk pointing out that just cause there are no people on the planet doesn’t mean there aren’t other creatures who might mean Lance harm. So Lance was stuck in the utility belt pocket.

Hunk had finally gotten around to fixing his own utility belt pockets so Lance had assumed he would go with him, but was surprised when Keith had volunteered to be the one to bring him along. Lance had jokingly said that he ‘could do with a change of scenery’, but once you’ve ridden in one utility belt pocket, you’ve ridden in them all. There was only the slightest of differences in material.

He kept watching the tall blue grass go by through the partially open zipper.

I’d ask how much longer it’s going to be, but I’d just get the same answer as all the other times.

‘You don’t want to bother them, right? Though you’ll find another way to bother them regardless.’

I don’t remember asking for your opinion.

Lance worked to ignore those thoughts and relax with the slight swaying of the pocket he was in. He could tell Keith and the rest of the group were moving slower than usual, most likely so it was a less bumpy ride for him. He was grateful but wanted to get out of the pocket sooner rather than later. It was starting to get a bit claustrophobic, but Lance didn’t want anyone else to know that. He didn’t want them to see him as weak.

Ok, it can’t be that much longer, right? Hunk was so excited to find a planet with new types of food to work with in the kitchen. Allura would have parked the castleship closer if we could, but apparently, the ground is too soft for the castleship to land without damaging it. She wouldn’t make us walk farther than we had to. Actually, no. She might consider it part of training, like pulling your weight.

‘You’re certainly not pulling your own weight.’

Hey, I have less weight to pull, so I don’t have to do as much.

‘And a good thing too. There’s not much you actually can do.’

I can do things!

‘Like what?’

Stuff…things…umm…

Lance was shaken from his thoughts as he felt the pocket stop swaying.

Finally.

“Can I come out yet?” Lance asked through the comms.

“Not yet. Pidge still has to do a scan of the nearby area to make sure there’s no animals that might be a threat to you.” Ryo answered.

“Don’t worry, it won’t take more than a few tics,” Hunk added on.

Lance heard the wrist scanner boot up and make a few sounds.

“Looks like we’re all clear. You’re good, Lance.” Pidge stated.

Thank God.

The zipper was opened all the way and Lance climbed onto Keith’s offered hand.

Keith brought him up to his shoulder.

“I’ll keep the scanner running so if something does get too close we’ll get a heads up since the castleships scanners are down while Coran works on them,” Pidge stated as she pushed a few buttons on said scanner.

“An excellent idea, Pidge. This way we can ensure Lance’s safety.” Allura commented.

“So this is the schakalberry tree?” Lance asked as everyone looked at the tree in front of them.

“Yep,” Hunk responded.

“That is one tall tree,” Ryo commented as he looked up towards the top of the tree.

“It’s huge!” Pidge exclaimed.

“I feel like an ant,” Keith added on.

“Think about how I feel,” Lance said from his shoulder.

I feel like an ant around the rest of the team. If they feel like ants with this tree, what does that mean I feel like? An ant to an ant? Is there a better way to phrase that?

‘Of course there is, but you aren’t about to think of it.’

“What exactly is an ant?” Allura asked.

“They’re a type of bug on earth,” Hunk responded. “They’re pretty little, like yea big.” Hunk pressed his pointer finger and thumb closer together but kept them from touching to show Allura how small ants are.

‘And that’s exactly what you are. A little bug, a pest. And what do we do with bugs?’

Nope, not thinking about that nightmare. Never thinking about that again. They would never actually do that.

‘Not intentionally, but well, accidents do happen.’

Lance could almost hear the smirk in the voice.

“Looks like there are some low hanging branches. Keith, why don’t you and Lance work on those while the rest of us pick some from the higher branches?” Allura suggested.

“That’s where the sweetest berries are according to the Falleans.” Hunk commented.

“Sounds good,” Keith responded.

“Here’s a bucket for you two.” Pidge handed one of the 5 buckets to Keith.

“Don’t I get my own bucket?”

“You aren’t really in the position to carry a bucket right now, Lance.” Hunk said gently.

“Even if we did have a bucket in your size, it would only hold a few berries. It just makes more sense for you and Keith to share.” Pidge pointed out.

“Ok, fair point,” Lance responded from Keith’s shoulder.

Pidge gave everyone else a bucket and they used their jetpacks to fly up towards the uppermost branches of the schakalberry tree.

Lance felt a little upset that he was, in essence, grounded even though his jetpack worked just fine. He understood the others’ worries about him falling, but the jetpack would stop him from falling. Or slow his falling enough for one of them to grab him. It wouldn’t be that big a deal. He knew they wouldn’t let him fall.

Keith was now standing in front of one of the low hanging branches. He put his hand out for Lance to climb on.

“Relax, Mullet. I got a jetpack too.”

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“Are you ever going to not have a mullet?” Lance stood up on Keith’s shoulder.

“No.”

“There’s your answer.”

With that Lance used his jetpack to fly over to the nearest branch. He almost didn’t notice Keith’s hands below him ready to catch him if he fell. Key word almost.

Does Keith think that I can’t do this too?

‘Of course he does. He’s stuck babysitting you while the others are actually doing something productive.’

Keith put the bucket down on the ground underneath the branch Lance was now standing on before walking over to another low hanging branch and starting to pick berries. Lance did the same.

The berries were the size of basketballs to him. He grabbed the closest one and started pulling on it. He could feel the resistance of the berry.

Ok, this is harder than I thought.

He looked over and saw Keith having no trouble with his branch.

Ok, maybe it’s just me. How to do this? Aha! Got it!

Lance grabbed the berry once more. This time as he pulled, he also used his jetpack for an extra boost. The berry resisted for a moment before coming free.

“Oof.” Lance landed on his back on the branch.

“Are you ok?” Lance saw the concerned look on Keith’s face.

“I’m good. Just needed a little boost strength-wise.”

“You don’t have to do this if it’s hard.”

“It’s fine, Keith.” Lance dropped the berry into the bucket below. “I want to help the team as much as I can while I’m like this. This is something I can do.”

Not well, but I can still do it.

Lance couldn’t help but feel inadequate when Keith walked over and dropped a handful of berries into the bucket.

Is this even worth the effort? At the rate I’m going, I’m only going to pick like 10 before Keith manages to fill the bucket. Every little bit counts, but my little bit is hardly a drop in the bucket. Or would it be berry in the bucket? Lance thought with a small smile.

‘You’re not funny.’

Yeah, I know.

It wasn’t too long before Keith was back with yet another handful of berries.

Lance grabbed another berry and started to pull with the help of his jetpack.

“Um, Lance?” Keith said.

“Yeah?” Lance responded after dropping the second berry into the bucket.

“I wanted to apologize for last night. The whole waking you up and-“

“You didn’t wake me up, Keith. I was awake for a bit before your nightmare memory thingee.”

“You were?”

“Yeah. The doll bed’s not really designed for actual use, so I’ve woken up in the middle of the night a few times. Last night was probably some of the best sleep I got since the whole getting shrunk thing.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Pillows are like clouds at this height.” Lance paused for a moment. “Thanks again for grabbing the bandana blanket for me.”

“No problem. Sorry about grabbing you in my sleep.”

“Grabbing’s a bit of a strong word, Keith. If anything, you draped your hand over me. Wait, is that the right word? Anyways, it’s more like your hand was a heated blanket of some kind. You didn’t smush me down into the pillow if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“But what if I had?”

“You wouldn’t, Keith. I know you wouldn’t hurt me. I’m fine, you’re fine,” very fine, “And everything is fine.”

That is the exact moment that things went wrong.

“Guys, something just popped up on the scanner. Make that several somethings.” Pidge warned through the comms.

“What direction are they coming from?” Keith looked around to see if he could figure it out himself.

“Overhead.” Pidge and the others landed in front of Keith and Lance.

Keith held out his hand for Lance to climb onto.

“What are they?” Ryo asked.

“Not sure. We designed the scanner to warn us of things that would be a threat. It doesn’t necessarily tell us what they are.” Hunk explained. “Bit of a design flaw on our part.”

“Well whatever it is, we should get ready,” Lance said.

“Coran, do you see anything on the ship’s scanners?” Allura asked through the comms.

“I haven’t finished updating them yet, so they’re not active. Why?”

“We have a lot of movement near us. We may need to make a quick exit. How soon can you get the castleship ready to leave?”

“Give me 15 dobashes and she’ll be ready to go.”

“You might want to hurry with that, Coran. We’ve got company.” Ryo said as an all too familiar ship came into view overhead flanked by two battle cruisers.

“How did Lotor find us here? The Falleans said that this was a safe planet!” Lance exclaimed.

“*Hmm* It has been a while since we’ve heard from the Falleans,” Keith commented mostly to himself.

“Lotor probably figured we were on their tail and would be looking to resupply somewhere,” Allura responded.

“What if there’s something you missed in my head? What if I’m the reason they found us?” Ryo worried out loud.

“We went over the data multiple times. If they had put anything in your mind we would have found it.” Pidge answered.

“Is there a chance they don’t know we’re here?” Hunk asked hopefully.

The ship started shooting at them.

“Well, that answers that question,” Keith said as he transferred Lance to one hand and activated his shield with the other.

“Coran, how much longer till the castleship’s ready to go?” Ryo asked.

“We’re working as fast as we can. It shouldn’t be more than another 13 dobashes. Do you want me to send the lions to meet you?”

“No, the planet drains their power somehow. We can’t risk them being grounded here.” Pidge responded.

“That means we can’t form Voltron. What do we do?” Hunk asked.

“We hold out until Coran can get the ship to us,” Ryo stated. “Keith, hide Lance. We don’t need Lotor to know he’s here with us.”

Keith slid Lance back into his utility belt pocket and zipped it most of the way shut.

“Everyone, protect Keith. We know he’s the intended target.” Allura reminded the group.

Lance remembered exactly what Lotor had said back then, all the way back when Lance took the hit for Keith. How it was ‘high time someone cut him down to size.’ They were lucky that Lotor hadn’t managed to hit his intended target. Lance wouldn’t want anyone else to have to go through what he’s going through.

I wonder why they’re targeting Keith anyways. Maybe because he’s half Galra? Or is it racist to assume that? Uggh. I hate not being able to see what’s going on.

“I don’t need protection,” Keith stated.

“True, but Lance does,” Allura commented. “Lotor finding us here is an unforeseen risk. We can’t afford anything happening to either of you.”

Nice to know they care, but I can protect myself.

‘Really now? Then, what would you call all the other times? You were almost stepped on, nearly crushed under a fist, trapped in a jewelry box, and let’s not forget all but dropped to your death, I could go on.’

Please don’t. That was before I knew how to handle myself at this height.

‘But that last time was only a few days ago.’

Lance ignored the voice as much as he could and tried to focus on the voices around him. He could hear Lotor speaking.

“You have something of mine, paladins.”

“Yeah? Well, you’ve got something of ours. Where’s Shiro?” Pidge demanded an answer.

“Ah, so you’ve discovered our little ruse.”

“Answer the question,” Keith growled out.

“Even if I did know his location I would not share it.”

“We will find him.” Allura declared.

“Do you hear that? They actually think they can find him.” Ezor mocked while the rest of the generals laughed.

Guess all of team Lotor is here too. Yay.

“We found Ryo.” Hunk pointed out.

“Oh, is that what the project’s calling itself these days?” Zethrid asked out loud.

“You only found this clone because we let you.” Lotor declared. “We left you a trail of breadcrumbs and you didn’t suspect a thing. True, we were hoping that it would be longer before you figured it out. We believed that with what’s happened to your most important paladin your team would fall apart, but you are still going strong. Credit where credit’s due.”

“Uh, thank you?”

“Hunk!”

“What? I’m just being polite.”

“Tell us what you’ve done with Shiro,” Ryo demanded.

“I haven’t done anything with him.”

“LIAR!"

Lance could feel how agitated Keith was. His shaking in anger was causing the utility belt pocket to shake as well.

“Believe what you will, but I was not involved in that aspect of the project.”

“Then why were you there guarding him?” Allura gestured to Ryo.

“I owed someone a favor.”

“Who?” Pidge glared at Lotor.

A look of realization came across Ryo’s face.

“The witch. Haggar.”

“I guess they did give you a brain after all.”

“Hey! Leave him alone!” Lance had managed to unzip the pocket enough for him to stick his upper body out.

The rest of his team turned and glared at him and Lance swore he could hear them all going “Boiiiii!” in their minds.

“It seems you have a little stowaway,” Lotor smirked down at Lance.

Oh, yeah, that’s scary. That is very scary.

“Good to know the spell worked.”

“What do you want, Lotor?” Allura asked while Keith put a protective hand in front of Lance to shield him from view.

“I already told you, you have something of mine. I am simply here to retrieve him.”

Lance figured Lotor had gestured towards Keith based on how the others reacted.

“We will not allow you to take him,” Allura stated.

“Yeah! Keith’s our friend!” Hunk declared.

“And teammate!” Pidge added.

“If you want him, you’re going to have to go through us,” Ryo said.

“So be it.”

Lance was glad that Keith had managed to zip him back in the pocket while everyone else was talking because things started moving quickly, causing him to fall down.

Ok, I’m a little sick of that happening.

He felt something press against the pocket. Whatever it was stopped and stayed in place once it felt him through the material.

“That you, Keith?” He hoped it was Keith. He couldn’t see much in the pocket with just the lights from his armor, not that there was much to see anyways.

“*mhmm*” Keith responded in the comms.

He must be using his shield to protect me. But what about him?

Lance could hear the clashing of metal around him.

There has to be something I can do.

Lance felt his surrounding shift as something hit the shield.

What was that?

Keith’s hand moved slightly but still managed to keep Lance from being shaken around in the pocket.

This kind of feels like being on that one flying saucer looking ride at the fair. The one where it spins really fast and you’re pushed against the wall and can’t move. What was that called again?

There was another sharp lurch in a different direction. Then yet another direction.

Or maybe this is more like bumper cars. With a blindfold on. Would it be better if I could see what’s happening?

Lance barely stopped himself from puking as there was a sudden drop.

Yeah, don’t think seeing would help.

The force pressing against him disappeared and he fell on his hands and knees as the pocket was jerked once more.

“I got him!” Lance heard Zethrid say.

“Good. Get him to the ship.” Axha responded as the pocket started shaking.

Keith must be trying to get away.

Lance heard a zipping sound and saw that more light was coming in.

Why would Keith be opening-? That’s not Keith!

Lance had learned to recognize his teammates’ hands from his new perspective. He was pretty sure none of them had claws or red skin.

“And he even brought his little friend along for the trip.” Ezor taunted as her hand approached Lance.

Lance backed up into a corner of the pocket in an attempt to get away. Seeing one of his friends’ hands reaching for him was intimidating enough at this height. Seeing an enemy’s hand reaching for him was downright terrifying.

“Get away from him!” Keith was still trying to break free from Zethrid’s grip causing the pocket to shake and making it harder for Ezor to grab at Lance.

Lance managed to avoid the first few attempts, but Ezor eventually snatched him up and start lifting him out of the pocket. Lance’s fight or flight instinct kicked in and he bit Ezor’s finger.

“Ow!” Ezor dropped Lance back into the pocket and yanked her hand out of it.

“Babe, are you ok?” Zethrid’s grip loosened slightly at her girlfriend’s exclamation allowing Keith to break out of it and quickly re-zip his pocket shut.

“He bit me.” Ezor shot an offended look at Keith and Lance.

“That’s it. No more Mr. nice guy.” Zethrid said.

That was her being nice?! Lance thought as he worked to get his heart to stop racing.

Zethrid and Ezor started charging towards Keith but were suddenly blasted back by a flash of pink energy.

“I believe we said we would not let you take him.”

Keith looked over and saw Allura standing nearby, a small hint of a pink glow still around her outstretched hand.

“Besides,” Pidge joined Allura, “2 against 1 isn’t really fair.”

What about me? Don’t I count for something?

‘No, you don’t.’

Hey, I can fight too!

‘Yeah, cause biting someone’s finger and then cowering in a corner is a real asset to the team.’

“You ok, Lance?” Keith asked as he put his hand back protectively over the pocket and reactivated his shield.

“Yeah, you?” Lance put his hand against Keith’s through the fabric of the pocket to let him know he was alright.

“Just a scratch. No big deal.”

“You can’t keep him from us forever,” Axha commented as she fought against Ryo.

“I can do this all day.”

“And they can do this for much longer,” Lotor stated before multiple transports full of robot sentries dropped down into the fray.

“Why does every villain have an army of robots?” Hunk asked as he avoided a hit from Narti, who had Kova perched on her shoulder. “Nice kitty. I don’t want to hurt you-”

*HISS!!!*

“-But you clearly want to hurt me! Coran, what’s the ETA?”

“It’ll be at least another 4 doboshes until she’s up and running.”

More sentries dropped from the sky surrounding the group.

“That’s not going to be enough time,” Allura stated as she blasted 3 of the sentries to bits before more took their place.

“We need a new plan,” Ryo added as he sliced one up.

“Wait, Lance,” Keith said while blocking a strike from another sentry. “What about pharaohs?”

“Pharaohs? What do dead Egyptian dudes have to do with anything?”

“No, pharaohs! What we talked about yesterday."

“Wait, do you mean Feroz?”

“That’s what I said.”

That was hardly close at all.

“Why not just say ‘Red’?” Lance was honestly curious as to why Keith was trying to be cryptic.

“Think, Lance.” Keith was forced back by yet another sentry.

“Oh! Because Lotor and crew can hear what you’re saying, but not so much what I’m saying. That way they don’t know the plan!”

“Good.” Lance could hear the smile in Keith’s voice.

“I think I’m thinking what you’re thinking. Coran, would you be able to open Red’s hangar door?”

“Yes, but that would just drain her energy.”

“True, but Red’s the fastest out of the lions. She could make it to us and bring us to the ship in time for liftoff before being drained completely.”

“It’s risky,” Allura commented.

“But it might be our only chance,” Ryo added.

“It seems doable. Pidge, do you think it would work?” Hunk asked.

“Yes. It will work. Do it, Coran.”

“Red’s on her way. I’ll have Black on stand-by in case she doesn’t make it all the way back.”

“She’ll make it back” Lance stated. “She’s Feroz.”

“Whatever you and your paladins are thinking of doing, it won’t work,” Ezor stated.

“We have you surrounded and outnumbered,” Axha said from the opposite side of the group.

“You’re not getting away this time.” Zethrid threatened from another side with Kova *meowing* in agreement on Narti’s shoulders opposite her.

The sentries closed in more on team Voltron. All members of team Voltron found themselves turning between facing each of the 5 members of team Lotor, not sure which of them might strike first.

Keith was the only one to notice Axha aiming a shot at the back of Ryo’s head. He ran over and reached his arm and shield out and blocked the shot.

Ezor aimed her gun as well.

*pa-choo*

Suddenly there was a hole right through the utility belt pocket only an inch above Lance’s head from his perspective.

“¡Ah Dios!”

“Lance!” Keith quickly put his shield back in front of Lance.

“As we said before, there will be no escape for you this day.” Lotor proclaimed.

*ROAR*

All eyes turned towards the sound to see Red racing towards team Voltron.

“That’s what you think, suckers!” Pidge exclaimed as Red grabbed everyone in her tractor beam and activated her shield. Once in the cockpit, Keith grabbed the controls and Red started heading back to the castleship.

Team Lotor continued to fire until they could no longer see Red in the sky.

“What are your orders?” Axha looked over to Lotor.

“Let them leave. We’ve accomplished our goal here.”

“No way they’re letting him on any more missions after that stunt,” Zethrid commented.

“Is that really going to stop him though?” Ezor added with a smile.

“We’ll have to see what the cameras show us on their ship,” Axha answered.

“Is your finger alright, Ezor?” Zethrid let a bit of worry show on her face as she cradled her girlfriend’s hands in her own.

“It’s fine, babe. He can’t bite that hard at that height anyway. He just surprised me. Why? You gonna kiss it better?”

“Of course. Now, was it this finger?” *kiss*

“Nope.”

“Was it this one?” *kiss*

“No.” *giggle*

“How about this one?” *kiss*

*giggle*

Kova *meowed* on Narti’s shoulder.

“You’re right, Narti. It is interesting that the green paladin didn’t try to hack the sentries. And after all the trouble you went through to take down their firewalls and make it so they would self-destruct once hacked.” Lotor lamented.

“Voltron seems to still believe that the red paladin is our target,” Axha observed.

“Good. They won’t realize our true target until it’s too late. You three can head back to the ship now. I have something to discuss with Ezor.”

The other three generals headed towards one of the transports, but not before Zethrid kissed Ezor on the back of her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

Once the transport took off, Lotor turned to Ezor.

“When I chose each of you as my generals, I asked for one thing in return: Loyalty. To me and the cause. You were told to target only the red paladin. Why did you deliberately go against my orders?”

“I saw an opportunity to take the blue paladin without having to deal with the more complicated parts of the plan.” Ezor tried not to show how nervous she was.

“And what did that get you?”

“My finger got bit and he got away.” She looked down in shame.

“Exactly. You gained nothing from your actions. By targeting the blue paladin directly, you nearly alerted his team to the truth. If Voltron found out that he was our true target this early it would be disastrous. Not only that, when you were told to aim near the top of the pocket, you aimed for the middle.”

“I thought that it would be more effective if the ‘close call’ shot was closer to him. It would convince them even more that he shouldn’t be out in the field.”

“And in doing so you risked everything. If he had been sitting up any more in the pocket, your shot would have killed him. Need I remind you we need the blue paladin alive for the plan to work?”

“I understand, Lotor.”

“I’m not so sure you do.” Lotor brought a hand to the hilt of his sword.

Ezor *gulped*. She watched as Lotor seemed to debate something in his head while tightening his grip.

Lotor *sighed* to himself before letting go of the hilt and letting his hand fall back down to his side.

“You are young and naïve. There is much you do not know. Consider this a learning experience and see that it does not happen again. Fate may not be so kind to you in the future.”

“Yes, Lotor.” Ezor’s voice shook slightly from nervousness as she avoided looking him in the eyes.

“*sigh* You know I care about you.” Lotor put the hand that had grabbed his sword on Ezor’s shoulder and noticed her slight flinch. “I still hate to think about what might have happened all those years ago if I hadn’t intervened. They were hurting you. And all because you are only ¼ Galra.” Lotor used his other hand to tilt Ezor’s head up so she was looking at him. “You are Galra. That should be enough for them. I know it is enough for me. Us part Galra have to stick together. We’re family, after all.”

“I know.”

“I realize I have been unfair to you and the others. I have been keeping many details of the plan under wraps for fear of anyone beyond us learning of them. I am deeply sorry for that.”

“You don’t have to apologize, it’s ok. We all understand. If we needed to know you would let us know.”

“While on the subject, I have an important task for you and Narti tomorrow. I’ve already explained Narti’s role to her, but you are the key to this portion of the plan. Everything depends on you doing exactly as I tell you.”

“I won’t let you down again.”

“I know you won’t. Now pay attention. This is important."

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“Are you sure you’re ok, Lance?”

“Yes, Hunk. I’m fine.” Lance tried to push away Hunk’s worried hands that had been hovering around him since he came out of the healing pod. “I mean, yeah, I’m a bit shaken, but not stirred!” Lance smiled at the reference he made.

“I’m going to assume that’s another earth phrase?” Coran said.

“Something along those lines,” Keith responded.

“*ahem* If we could get back on topic, please,” Allura interjected. “Given recent events, we have a few things to discuss as a team. Coran, have you had any success in contacting the Falleans?”

“Not yet, Princess. All I’m getting is static. I’ll keep adjusting the frequency and see if I can get through.”

“We need to let them know that Gefahr is no longer safe. What could have happened that would affect the signal?” Allura wondered out loud.

“It is possible their communicator was damaged,” Pidge suggested.

“The Galra could have something to do with it.” Ryo pointed out.

“Either way, we should continue trying to contact them.” Allura declared.

“Why not just teleduv over there and see what’s going on?” Lance suggested.

“Because we can’t form Voltron right now,” Pidge answered.

“Red was barely able to make it back to the castleship before being completely power drained,” Hunk added on.

“We don’t know what’s on the other side of the wormhole,” Coran mentioned.

“If it is the Galra, as Ryo suspects, it would be best to be able to form Voltron,” Allura explained.

“True, true,” Lance commented.

“Plus, if the Galra are involved we don’t want to walk into a trap,” Ryo responded.

“When does Red say she’ll be ready?” Lance asked.

“Red says she should be ready by tomorrow morning,” Keith answered after asking Red herself through their mental link.

“*sigh* Good.” Allura switched back to her serious face. “We also need to work on our protection formations.”

“I thought we did a good job today. They didn’t get Keith.” Pidge commented.

“They almost did,” Allura responded. “It was sheer dumb luck that Keith got away. We need to be better next time.”

“I don’t need protection,” Keith said.

“Until we can figure out what Lotor wants with you, you do. And in the future, we might have to protect someone less capable of protecting themselves. It is a good idea to do some more training.” Ryo pointed out.

“Fine.” Keith accepted.

“And finally, Lance. Are you quite sure you’re alright?” Allura asked.

“Yeah, it was just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious."

“Nothing too serious?! You almost died!” Hunk exclaimed.

“But I didn’t! I’m fine.”

“You got lucky this time,” Pidge interjected. “If that shot had been a millimeter lower, you wouldn’t be here now.”

“And now we know Lotor and his team are not above targeting you in the field.” Ryo pointed out.

“It is for all these reasons and more that certain precautions must be made. Pidge, would you be able to bring up the rules list?” Allura asked.

“Give me just a sec.” Pidge typed on her laptop. “Got it.”

“From now on, Lance is not to go on any mission regardless of the risk involved.” Allura declared.

“What?” Lance said softly. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“No missions. Period.” Pidge simplified as she edited the rules list.

“We discussed it while you were in the pod and agreed that the risk is just too great.” Ryo apologetically said to Lance.

“But…but the other missions I’ve gone on like this went ok. We didn’t know that Lotor would show up!”

“Exactly,” Allura stated. “We do not always know what we will face in the field. This last mission was proof of that.”

“That was probably just a fluke or something!”

“A fluke that almost cost you your life,” Keith responded, worry showing in his voice. “You didn’t even try to stay hidden when Lotor showed up. You let them know where you were as soon as they landed.”

“Well, next time I’ll stay quiet and if Lotor and crew show up, they won’t even know I’m there.”

“Even if you could manage to be quiet that long, Lotor’s team would assume you’re tagging along on every mission now.” Pidge pointed out. “The best thing for you to do is stay on the castleship where you’re safe.”

“But I want to help!”

“You can help Coran on the bridge,” Ryo mentioned gently.

But that’s not the same.

“Please, Lance. We just want to make sure you’re safe.” Hunk said upon seeing Lance’s dejected face.

“We’re paladins of Voltron. We risk our lives every day.” Lance said while wondering

Why is it different for me?

“And we can’t risk something happening to you,” Coran responded. “You are the most vulnerable of us right now.”

‘See? Even Coran doesn’t think you can do anything. Vulnerable, weak, useless.’

“The Galra almost took you,” Keith said.

“If they had taken you, who knows what they would do?” Hunk worried out loud.

“Lotor would use you against us. He could force us to hand over Keith.” Allura stated.

‘See who she actually cares about? Surprise, surprise, it’s not you.’

“For everyone’s safety and peace of mind, yours especially, you need to stay where it’s safe, ok?” Ryo said.

“*sigh* I’ll stay where it’s safe.” Lance agreed.

“Good.”

But I never agreed that that was the castleship.

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Realities without Lance: 137 (+11)

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#pocket paladin #voltron #klance #g/t klance #g/t #VLD #g/t writing #keith #Lance #Giant/tiny #Shrinking #shrunk #writing #stories

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lenacopperleaf · 6 years

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A (Not So) Brief Summary of The First 27 episodes of Critical Role

So @i-do-as-i-want had mentioned wanting a summary of the first bunch of episodes so that they could get to the part without Tiberius and his player. I was originally going to message this to them but then it got long, and I figured others might be interested too. I tried to be brief while still covering everything important (27 episodes is still almost 100 hours of content ya’ll). Feel free to add if you feel I missed important stuff, but be kind as I did this pretty quickly. This isn’t a post to talk about what went down with Tibs’ player. There’s a lot of those posts around rn and they serve their own purpose. But this post is just supposed to be a summary of in-game events. Summary under the read more!

Underdark Arc (episodes 1-16)

We meet Vox Machina—Percy a gunslinger nobleman who’s trying to avoid his past; the half elf twins, Vax the rogue, and Vex the ranger (and her bear Trinket); Keyleth the half elf druid who is completing her journey to become her people’s Voice of the Tempest; Scanlan a gnomish bard; Pike a gnomish cleric of Sarenrae and her best buddy Grog the barbarian; and Tiberius a dragonborn.

They are a group of adventurers who have just successfully saved a city called Emon. After a six(ish) month break where they have split apart to complete pieces of their individual stories they have rejoined to find Lady Kima, a friend to the Sorcerer Allura whom they met in Emon. Kima, a paladin to the Platinum Dragon, had gone to the Kraghammer to deal with an evil vibe she had been getting. VM arrives, talks to a bunch of people and go to a mine where creatures had been coming to the surface from the Underdark. They make a deal with the mine owner to take care of his creature problems for a lot of gold pieces.

VM goes through the mine defeating a vast assortment of creatures such as umber hulks, intellect devourers, and illithids. Along the way Vex and Keyleth meet Clarota, an Illithid who has been cast out, they invite him to come along to help defeat a mysterious figure known as K’varn who the group believes to be the source of the problem. They then reach the castle of the Underdark Dwarves (duergar). The evil king and queen had been holding Kima! The gang rescues Kima, who dislikes Clarota and wants to leave him behind. VM has a battle against the king and queen. The King dies but the Queen gets away with Grog. Eventually the gang gets back Grog, defeats the Queen and heads on to face K’Varn. The group finds out that K’varn is a beholder controlling the mind flayers through their elder brain, battles him (ep. 11) and wins out. Then it turns out that the god Orcus is trying to use K’varn through the Horn of Orcus-this reanimates the beholder corpse. After persevering again VM unintentionally frees all the controlled mind-flayers and Clarota betrays Vox Machina in the hopes his people will take him back.

The gang fight-run away from the mind flayers and through the use of a teleportation circle return with Kima back to Emon. There is a shopping episode where we meet Shaun Gilmore, Vox Machina’s favorite merchant who has a bit of a flirtationship with Vax. (Ep. 14) The band of adventurers is summoned to Sovereign Uriel and the council of Emon. VM tells the council about the Horn of Orcus and decide to bring it back to Vasselheim where Kima’s temple is where they should be able to keep the Horn safe and away from dangerous creatures/people. VM does this, traveling by air ship. They return the Horn to the Platinum Dragon’s temple. They also say good-bye to Pike for the time being as she has decided to stay to fix the temple of Sarenrae (Ashley Johnson was cast in Blindspot).

Adventures in Vasselheim (17-23)

After saying goodbye to Pike, VM looks for things to do. Grog gets in a fight against Kern in what is known as The Pit (ep. 17 part 1 quite good). Grog loses just barely and is very sad. The group looking to cheer him up and get back to what they’re good at, leave Vasselheim and come across a hydra, and defeat it. Unfortunately Vasselheim has an organization known as the Slayer’s Take who are given assignments to hunt monsters and other creatures and the hydra slain was one the Slayer’s Take was supposed to take care of. Vox Machina is told that they must join the Slayer’s Take or will be persecuted as poachers.

Vox Machina is split up to undertake the Trial of the Slayer’s Take. Vex, Scanlan, Grog and two new friends go to slay a white dragon. Vax, Keyleth, Tiberius, and two other new friends have to beat a Rakshasa (I like these episodes and reoccurring guest characters are introduced. Ep. 18 and 19 have no Tiberius, ep. 20 and 21 have…well a lot more Tiberius. For the reoccurring guest character of 20/21 it is Kash a cleric/paladin who is played by Will Friedle. Kash is interested in Keyleth romantically and Vax gets jealous. Kash is good here but there are other instances of him after Tibs so no big to just avoid these ep if need be just know the Rakshasa will be a problem again in the future). Once everyone has passed their trial they become members of the Take. Yay!! Then they go to the village of Pyrah so Keyleth can pass the Fire trial of her Aramente. They go to the Fire Realm, things are hot but they get by and Keyleth passes. On their way back they have to hide from a big scary red dragon (foreshadowing!!)

Before they leave back to Emon, Grog returns to the Pit where he faces off against Kern, and this time…is victorious!!!! (ep. 23, part 1. There is some Tibs but the Grog part is pretty good and is pretty heavy Grog centered which is the last we’ll see of that for a little while.) Fan Favorite NPC Viktor the gun powder merchant is also in this last episode in part 2, (2:08:29)

VM returns to their keep and meet Kynan (recurring NPC) who wants to join Vox Machina. Vax knocks him out and then revives him in an attempt to teach Kynan that their work is dangerous and not for him at that time. He tells the boy to train and that one day maybe he can join. Kynan runs off saying he will do that. Vax later feels guilty and tries to find him but cannot. Seeker Assum, a member of the Council, sends word to Vox Machina that they are invited to a fancy feast next week to welcome Emon’s new fancy guests…the Briarwoods (aka the people who invaded Percy’s home and killed all of his family).

The Briarwood Arc (24-27)

After receiving the invitation Percy finally tells Vox Machina all of what had happened to him before he joined the Adventure Party. Basically bad people came in, killed everyone, Percy was tortured before he was able to escape and now he wants revenge. On 5 of the 6 barrels of his gun there is a name—Lord and Lady Briarwood, Anna Ripley, Sir Stonefell, and Professor Anders. The group says that they will help Percy. The group splits to do errands, get their money from Kraghammer and play with Trinket.

Then the group goes to the feast, Percy disguised as Vax. They see Silas and Delilah Briarwood and hear their version of how they acquired Whitestone (ie. The de Rolos got sick and died and they were in line to inherit), Vax although asked to go with Seeker Assum sneaks off and does his own thing (after agreeing to say “Jenga” over the magical earrings if he needs help). He ends up getting caught by the Briarwoods in their room. As dinner ends Vax finds himself in deeper and deeper trouble as he isn’t able to speak or move.

When he gets a chance to break the spell Vax throws himself out of a window and yells Jenga. A Very intense fight follows (ep. 25 is really good overall though as it is nearing the end of time Tibs was around things are starting to get strange/tense with him so watch if interested and you can just skip him really) as the group fights to save Vax and stop the Briarwoods. They fail to stop the Briarwoods though they do save Vax. Percy begins to act more rash than is normal for him. Sovereign Uriel and his council are unhappy with VM as it seems they attacked Emon’s guests. He agrees to look into it but VM is on some thinnnnnnnnn ice. The gang does some…questionable stuff when some bloodhunters come after one of their new friends (This is where the Vox Machina hates old people comes from). There’s a filler episode where Scanlan turns everyone into Cows. Its kinda amusing though skippable overall.

Okay, now we’re at ep. 27. The tension throughout the episode is weird at the beginning and terrible by the end imo. Unless you enjoy second hand embarrassment/awkwardness/weirdness I would suggest trying to avoid this episode. Percy begins to have nightmares and dreams of a smoke entity before ghosts attack Grey Skull Keep. They fight off the ghosts and then later in the day start to make plans.

Seeker Assum comes to see them and says that he thinks that Uriel is under a charm like Assum was earlier. Keyleth had used Greater Restoration on him when the council was talking with VM, but Assum pretended it didn’t work b/c he wanted to stay in Uriel’s good graces to help VM later. After more debate, and an offer to raze Whitestone from Tiberius, and some creepy smoke voices in Percy’s ear, Percy decides that they will go to face the Briarwoods and that they will have a week to prepare. (Now comes the worst part of the episode tension wise). The party makes their preparations to leave the city, Vex leaves a note for Uriel.

Then they leave for Whitestone. The journey goes okay though they lose their horses to harpies. Keyleth is becoming increasingly concerned for Percy, feeling he isn’t telling them everything. The next day they continue on their way and the episode ends as they are faced with a dragon-ish creature.

The next episode they continue onto Whitestone but Tibs is controlled by Matt. The disappearance of Tibs’ player is brought up sometime over the next few episodes but he does not come back to the table and you can now enjoy the rest of the episodes of Critical Role!

#critical role #critical role spoilers #cr campaign 1 spoilers #cr campaign 1 #vox machina #vox machina spoilers #critical role a summary #campaign 1 summary #major spoilers #under dark arc #vasselheim arc #briarwood arc #cr1ep1 #cr1ep27 #cr1ep1-ep27

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burger-licious · 6 years

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Big Ol’ Plance Speculation

This is going to be realllly long. I don’t have the patience to separate stuff into multiple posts linking them all to one another, so I’ll just put it under a read more at a certain point. If you stay through the whole thing, you’re a champ! If you don’t that’s totally cool too. If you do read it all though, you won’t regret it! probably

Seriously though, this will be long. However I’ll mostly be talking about the moments I haven’t seen brought up before and how I believe they connect. I hope I’ll be able to bring up new, missed Plance moments that have gone unnoticed. So here we go!

S2E01 starts off right where season one left off. The wormhole they were traveling through to escape from Zarkon’s armada loses it’s integrity due to Haggar’s magic. The Paladins get separated and end up on different planets while Allura and Coran get stuck in a time loop in the temporal rift. Shiro and Keith wind up together, Lance and Hunk are together, and Pidge ends up by herself on what she calls a “trash nebula of some kind.” This is the first segment/situation out of the four groups we see before being cut back and forth between the others.

She talks to herself saying to stay calm and the best thing to do when you get lost in space is to stay put and wait for people to find you. It’ll be nice because she’ll get some “me” time.

She begins to contemplate that for a couple seconds before saying:

[Pidge]: “No-one to annoy me...” and then her expression changes.

She loses the highlight in her eyes and is basically looking into the camera. I think it’s pretty obvious with that line she’s mostly talking about Lance and Hunk(possibly Coran too). Not to mention the nebula she’s stuck on and this scene in particular have a green, blue, and yellow atmosphere in the background. So I definitely think it’s safe to say between her dialogue and the colors making up pretty much all the background shots indicate how much she’s grown fond of the two. She’d rather be with them albeit slightly annoyed sometimes, HECK it sounds like she actually likes it, than to be without them. She doesn’t actually like the idea of being by herself. She wants to be around them. They’re fun and she enjoys their company. I also think it’s interesting because at this point it hasn’t even been that long. They JUST got separated. It probably hadn’t even been five minutes at this point and she’s already like “welp I’m bored can’t stand this let’s start looking for a way to find them”.

And it’s not because she’s scared or anything, either, because the very next time we cut back to her she’s openly exploring the nebula’s surface. The only time we see her remotely scared, and it’s more of a startled, is when she meets the little trash poofs. A reaction that’s pretty short lived at that.

All the little trash poofs come out and she greets them and EVEN APOLOGIZES to them for her rough landing. She’s talking to them with no hesitation or hint of fear they may be bad news. She then says, “I’m just waiting for my friends to find me.” Then the little poofs line up.

[Pidge]: “Yeah! Friends!”

This means Pidge not only understood what the poofs were trying to demonstrate but also means she genuinely feels the other paladins are/are becoming her friends. She could have chose any other wording such as “teammates”/”Other Paladins” etc but she didn’t. Pidge is the first one we see who outright refers to the others as such.

(keep the poofs’ positioning in mind, because it’ll come up later, I promise.)

I also think it’s pretty interesting the way she’s facing. It’s not front facing. You can tell by the position of her eyes and mouth she’s mostly looking toward the blue one. The pink and blue ones drift screen left and Pidge looks down while continuing to smile. On one hand I think it’s that she’s coming to terms and really reflecting on how she has people other than her family who mean something to her now, but on the other her face almost looks sad and this may be foreshadowing for the current Allurance we’ve seen in S7 and the possible Allurance to come along with S8. Whether she acknowledges it and takes action for herself to confess or quietly resigns now that she knows Allura is somewhat returning Lance’s feelings and that’s just how it is, who knows.

[This part will be a little bit of a segway, but also kind of not, so stay with me here]

Continuing on to S2E02, we get Lance and Hunk who end up in the underwater planet following Florona(?). At this point Lance hits us with this line:

[Lance]: “And... If I just happen to find the future Mrs. Blue Lion, well, then that is alright with me.”

At first this could just be seen as a throwaway line. He’s Loverboy Lance, he’s got girls on the brain.

But as we all later find out in S3E02, Allura becomes the Paladin of the Blue Lion. ie: Future Ms. Blue Lion. Now, if Lance’s previous line was purposefully meant to be foreshadowing, we can infer other conversations he has with himself/Blue to be foreshadowing as well.

Which brings us to this scene. Blue essentially locks him out, he can’t get in anymore. He tries telling it they have work to do, to stop goofing off, asking why she’s mad at him/if she hates him, flirting, and apologizing for wanting to fly the Black Lion and saying it was just a phase. He can’t figure out why this is happening and when Allura comes to check out what’s going on, Red calls out to Lance and Allura explains why Red is accepting him. After dealing with the setup Lotor planned, we see Lance back in the hangar talking to Blue.

[Lance]: “Well, ol’ Blue. We sure had some fun adventures, didn’t we? I wanted to stay with you, but sometimes what we want isn’t necessarily what we get. I’m gonna miss you, buddy.”

If this is foreshadowing as well, I think this is the biggest hint that Allurance will not be Lance’s endgame. Or at the very least, not his true endgame. If we hold to the metaphor of Blue=Allura, this means Allura will eventually reject/turn him down, just as the Blue Lion has effectively shut him out. Meanwhile, another lion waiting in silence opens up to him. I.e: Lance’s better/true fit. Lance has his doubts until Allura convinces him to go.

Interesting how this could be alluding to Allura not only turning him down in the coming season, but also quite literally leading/guiding him to the person who’s actually the right fit for him. Lance starts out with Blue, and his relationship with them is fine until a big event happens that forces a change(not only in the team as a whole, but Lance’s thinking as well) in the current dynamic. Lance heard the call but didn’t go to it until Allura pointed out it was calling for him specifically. And the reason was largely due in part to Lance accepting the situation as it was. Both with Keith being the more natural leader, and with Blue no longer connecting with him. He comes to terms with it and even essentially tells Blue goodbye. There’s a good chance this is how Lance’s relationships in S8 could play out as well. Essentially realizing what he said to Blue pertains to Allura as well and moving on. And while being turned down, Lance realizes who he actually likes.

Plus, in S2E04 we have a scene where Keith and Lance(moreso Lance) having and argument about the Blue Lion that could also possibly be pointing to Kallura, because he says:

[Lance:] “Hey, why are you asking about my Lion? How many Lions do you need?[...] You’ve had your eye on the Blue Lion from day one![...] The Blue Lion’s with me! And we’re very happy together. Very happy!”

This line here is very much how we see Lance acting towards Allura. He’s very defensive and anytime we’ve seen another person so much as “flirt” with her, Lance gets moody. Matt and Lotor of course being the biggest examples of this. It makes even more sense if we assume, because of the conversation on the tarmac at the end of S7 between the two, will lead to the beginning of S8 having Allurance start out the season. If they do get together, Lance will probably at some point question how happy they both are, because this line almost sounds like he’s trying to convince himself, more than Keith and Coran, he and Blue are happy together rather than not. And if Lance has these same thoughts about his relationship, he would definitely be a bit stubborn accepting one/both of them aren’t happy, seeing as he’s been trying to court Allura from day one.

The we immediately cut to a scene where the Green Lion is the most prominent object in view.

[getting back on track]

Now just prior to the previous line I mentioned in S2E02, Hunk says, “Lance, I know this mermaid thing is a dream of yours, but we really gotta go.” Lance replies with:

[Lance]: “We will, big guy, we will! But let’s meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us.”

So after the events of this episode, the Queen activates the energy beacon, and the very next image we see that’s not just the beam going off is:

Pidge in the Green Lion coming through a wormhole. THEN Lance says to Hunk:

[Lance]: “See Hunk? I told you they could help us.”

Now, the “they” in this line is referring to the merpeople, but overall? I think it’s referring to Pidge. Lance is the one to suggest following Florona(?) in the first place, while also stating that he may find the Future Mrs. Blue Lion(but in his character’s mind, means future partner) in the process. The episode opens with Lance saying that line and ends with Pidge being the only other Paladin whose voice we hear/Lion we see. And it’s right after we see Pidge coming to pick them up when Lance delivers the “I told you they could help us.” Which I think is really cool because his lines, as they’re said together are:

[Lance]: “We will, big guy, we will! But let’s meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us. And... If I just happen to find the future Mrs. Blue Lion, well, then that is alright with me. [...] I told you they could help us.”

And who is the one, who, ultimately comes to their rescue? Everyone’s rescue? Pidge. Who is the one who got a satellite on a nearly abandoned trash nebula to work and send out the Green Lion’s energy, allowing Allura to lock onto it and escape the temporal rift/time loop? Pidge. Who’s the one to go get Shiro and Keith? Pidge. Who finds the Queen’s beacon? Pidge. And during both of the latter ones, Allura and Coran aren’t seen along with her. So not only is Pidge the one to help all of them, but you could also look at it like because of the beacon, Lance and Hunk were able to also *find* Pidge.

Also it’s probably not meant as anything because I know he’s been animated with it before, but when Lance mentions finding the Future Mrs. Blue Lion he gets that sparkle on his teeth, which is also what the beacon looks like at distance to Pidge.

TLDR: Pidge initiated the effort with the satellite, they “found” Pidge with the energy beacon(and that was only able to happen because of Lance insisting they follow the mermaid in the first place), and then Pidge helps them regroup. All three points of Lance’s lines here happen exactly in the way they were ordered.

Other nifty things to note in this episode relate to the mermaid Plaxum. While Blumfump explains their strategy for taking down the Queen, Lance says:

[Lance, while using his own voice and a slighty higher voice for the imaginary lady]: “Then I’ll be a hero. Awww Lance. You’re so handsome -and- modest. Oh thank you for saving us. Can I kiss you? Maybe just a little.*knocks two rocks together while making kissy noises*”

Just look at Plaxum’s face. She is giving a similar look to what we’ve seen Pidge give him before too. Plus. Y’all. She’s straight up colored with greens. At the end of the episode, Plaxum thanks Lance for helping save her people by giving him a smooch. Although this doesn’t exactly play into his previous fantasy, because she didn’t ask if she could kiss him. She just does it.

Afterward, she removes her jellyfish/mask and drops her cloak to reveal what she actually looks like. Of course Lance is now smitten. And now we can see she also has hints of orange in addition to her shell belt thing and right by her cheeks also kind of looks pretty close to Pidge’s haircut yeah? Intended parallel or not, who knows. Even if it weren’t, it’d make sense to make this connection. Not only are the colors similar enough, but Plaxum wearing her Jellyfish and cloak is akin to Pidge disguising herself in her current outfit to sneak into the garrison. Each of them used theirs as means to an end. Plaxum used the jellyfish because she had to in order to block the mind control. Pidge had to cut her hair and change her image because the Garrison already knew who she was and what she looked like. I think it’d be safe to say Plaxum removing her jellyfish will be mirrored later by Pidge returning to her original look, after they’re done with their main storyline/end of the series. Plaxum kept her jellyfish on until her mission was complete and Pidge is keeping her hair short until her mission is finished as well. Hopefully she’ll give Lance a smooch too but only time will tell.

Moving onto S2E04, Greening the Cube, the team goes to the planet Olkarion after picking up their distress signal and having a makeshift snowball fight. They go to the armory and try to activate the tree pod things with only Pidge succeeding. The team splits up into two groups. Lance and Hunk go with Pidge and Shiro and Keith go with Ryner to save King Lubos.

They could have had the team split up any way they wanted but they had the Garrison Trio together, right after Ryner says, “It means, you’re going to need to give your friends a ride!” Which, once again, shows that at least Pidge considers Lance and Hunk to be her friends. We don’t know for sure if Pidge chose them or if they called shotgun and jumped in, but still.

This also mirrors S1E01 except Pidge and Lance switch places. The Garrison Trio are in the foreground while Shiro and Keith take a backseat. The Blue Lion and the Pod were a first for both of them. Pidge was the only one to activate a Pod by having a connection with it, just as Lance was the only one to activate Blue in a similar way.

[Lance]: “WhOA! How’d you do that?”

While fighting the Cubes, Pidge gains a better connection with her Lion with a bit of help from Ryner and gains an ability where she can use veins. She uses this to destroy the cubes from the inside out. When Pidge first comes back and uses this power, Lance is the only one to comment/question how she learned to do that.

They defeat all the cubes and we get to the end of the episode where we see Pidge reflecting on what she learned while on Olkarion.

[Pidge]: “You know, it’s weird. I’ve always been a tech junkie. That’s how I connected with the world. But for the first time, I feel connected to everything. I guess it’s like Ryner said, “We’re all made up of the same cosmic dust.”

Notice where she’s looking. Up and to her left. And it looks left-left at that. And who’s standing there?

Not only does she look upwards to the left but she does so while emphasizing the “everything”. So I may be reaching but I think her saying this line means she’s feeling more connected to Lance than she might have before.

Moving onto S2E05, the team is once again trying to flee from Zarkon’s fleet. They succeed, but Coran finds the scaultrite lens stones are cracked. This is also the episode where the ship goes starts to go completely bonkers and tries to attack the Paladins. When they first realize something funky is going on, Zarkon catches up to them a second time and they try to wormhole again. This time a number of lenses completely break. Just before all the madness, Hunk was baking “cookies” that turned out to be the perfect temporary solution to allow them one more wormhole jump to last long enough to get away from Zarkon. The only catch is, all of the Paladins have to hold each lens in place while the beams are going off, and they have to stay completely still.

[Coran]: “Now, nobody move if you want to live.”

[Lance]: “I think I moved! I think I moved!”

[Coran]: “Well, then move back to where you think you were!”

Lance is definitely the one freaking out the most.

As Allura is activating the Teleduv, Lance starts freaking out some more (understandably so) saying,

[Lance]: “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!”

[Pidge]: “Hold tight, Lance!”

Pidge is the only one who tries to reassure him it will be fine, despite there being three other people who would have definitely also noticed Lance was on edge. You’d think the one reassuring him to stay strong would fit Shiro better, seeing as at the moment, Shiro is still the acting leader. He’s also usually the one encouraging the team on their missions, so it’d only make sense for him to do the same here. But he doesn’t.

In S2E06, the team realizes Zarkon has to be tracking them in some way. Shiro suggests that because they don’t know for sure how Zarkon is doing it, they should be the ones to go after him. Then we have Lance say:

[Lance]: “The hunter becomes the hunted hmmm? Awesome! That’s a tagline from like six of my favorite movies.”

We immediately hear Pidge’s voice after this line, while the screen pans over to her, saying:

[Pidge]: “As it happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed it for both commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites. I was hoping to create an algorithm that would, within a statistically acceptable margin of error, provide a list of target rich Galra environments. Color coded of course, because what are we, animals?”

[Lance]: “Cool. What is it again?”

[Hunk]: “It’s a Galra Finder?”

[Pidge]: “Well, Finder suggests that it locates the Galra, whereas it would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest -getting stares from everyone- Fine. It’s a Galra Finder.”

Not only does this dialogue make sense for the plot, because Pidge revealing she essentially made a way to track them is literally the hunter (Zarkon/the Galra) becoming the hunted(by the Paladins). But it also has an undertone of a hint to Lance and Pidge’s relationship at the same time. Yes, Lance only mentions that hunter/hunted is a tagline from six of his favorite movies, but we can assume this means it’s one of his favorite lines overall as well. Even before the line of the hunter becoming the hunted, we know he’s into that because of the line I mentioned in S2E02! Remember?:

In his scenario, he saves the day but the girl is the one who makes the advances calling him handsome and asking if she can kiss him. Lance isn’t the one suggesting the action here. It’s whoever he’s talking to who initiates. Which would reverse the roles we see play out when Lance flirts. Lance is the one who makes first moves. He flirts and flatters, while the other person pretty much always rebuffs. He’s the hunter(a failing one, but hey). This means if someone were to say what Lance imagines in his fake scenario, then he becomes the hunted. So to have Pidge, who comes into focus immediately following hunter/hunted mentioning she DOES have a Galra Finder, makes me think there’s something more to that set of interactions than just the plot. I mean, right after Lance says that, Pidge doesn’t miss a beat with the “As it happens.” Almost sounding like, “As it happens, I *am* hunting you.”

They make their way to Taujeer and discover the planet is shedding it’s shell, while the residents are left stranded with only one working engine thanks to Morvak. Anybody into Plance most likely already knows about the blushing Lance does when Pidge says, “So the Galra were here. Lannnce?*smirks*”

But we have a scene that comes up later, when the Paladins are trying stop the planet from shedding. While coming up with a plan, Hunk suggests they can stop said shedding by sewing the planet back together.

[Hunk]: “That new Green Lion weapon causes vegetation to grow, right? Well, I was thinkin’ if you aim it at the cracks in the planet, the vines could act like stitches.”

[Shiro]: “Won’t the stitches get dissolved by the acid?”

[Pidge]: “The stitches might hold longer... if they’re frozen!”

Not only is Pidge the one to suggest freezing the vines, but it directly requires Lance’s Lion as well. I may be wrong but I think this is really the only time in the series, at least up to this point, where two distinct Lion powers are combined for something other than just firing at enemies. And I just love thinking of it like a foreshadowing metaphor. The vines/Pidge are strong, but the ice/Lance help Pidge keep her composure/keep it together. A reach but I’d still like to think of it that way.

Skipping a few episodes, we come to S2E11, Stayin Alive. Most Plancers have probably seen this screencap numerous times as well. This is a scene shortly after they rescue Slav from Beta Traz. Allura calls to tell them the monster that was encased in crystal on the Balmera has broken free and needs the team back there. Then Lance says:

[Lance]: “You got it, Princess. Sharpshooter is on the way.”

[Pidge]: “Sharpshooter?”

[Lance]: “It’s my new nickname, that I gave myself. J-just pass it on.”

Keep in mind: In just the previous episode, after Lance shoots Slav free from The prison warden guy, Shiro said: “Nice, Lance! That’s why we bring our sharpshooter!”

Then Lance strikes a similar pose as previously pictured:

Except here, he isn’t blushing or embarrassed. Nor is he when he’s talking directly to Allura while calling himself Sharpshooter.

It’s only after Pidge questions him that he blushes. We know later on, in S3E02 Lance took her questioning him here pretty hard as he thinks she doesn’t see him as a sharpshooter. And because he doesn’t see himself as the leader or anything else, believes she doesn’t as well. However, keep in mind prior to this, Pidge was being hit by Slav and screaming at the same time Shiro called Lance Sharpshooter. There’s a good chance because of those two things she didn’t hear him, therefore when Lance refers to himself that way, she’s probably wondering what he’s talking about.

Jumping through a few more episodes, this leads onto S3E02. With Shiro gone, they need to find a new Paladin for the Black Lion. Pidge brings up Allura was able to tell who would pilot what lion and then they all found and piloted them. Hunk then asks how she was able to do that, and if she could do it now. She says no and that she was able to immediately tell from their qualities which Lion would suit each of them best. Coran suggests Keith can become the new Paladin for the Black Lion due to piloting it when he needed to save Shiro. Lance interjects and then Pidge lists off what everyone's roles are:

[Pidge]: “Yeah, we all have our thing! Keith’s the loner, I’m the brain, Hunk’s the nice one, Allura’s the decision maker, Coran’s the wise old guy, and Lance is the goofball!”

To which Lance replies:

[Lance]: “Mhm yeah exactly totally right on. Wait a minute! I’m not a goofball! I’m like the cool, ninja sharpshooter.”

Now I’ve see some people try to say this is a main time where Pidge is mean to Lance. But is it really? We know in this episode he takes her calling him a goofball to heart, but I don’t think she meant it as a jab or insult. In fact, near the end of S2E11, there’s a scene where everyone is reflecting on the stuff that’s happened to them so far. At a point during the conversation, he lists off several things in a row.

[Lance]: “We faced sentries, a haunted castle, giant robeasts, a mall security guard-”

Pidge pops up, looking very excited saying:

[Pidge]: “And don’t forget that cool cube thing!”

[Lance]: Yeah! And that awful cube thing.

In both of these instances, neither of them are being mean. Pidge knows from S2E11 that Lance calls himself Sharpshooter. There’s no way she would have forgotten about it. If we also include the thought she’s had a crush on him either while they were in the Garrison or shortly after going into space, then she really wouldn’t have forgotten it. Her tone also sounds like she’s just messing with him, in the same way Lance does in this scene. He knows Pidge thought the cube was really cool, and he’s seen her geek out over other technology they’ve encountered so far. He’s playing with her. Like how family members/close friends rag on other, but all in good fun. What Pidge said has an effect unbeknownst to her on Lance, but these conversations happen before Shiro disappears. Lance also never confides those insecurities with Pidge, but does so almost exclusively with Keith and Allura. If he had shared those feeling with Pidge she most likely wouldn’t have said that in the first place. We’ve seen Lance seem to look up to Pidge’s opinions on numerous occasions and this could make for a really good arc for the both of them in S8. Pidge somehow learns Lance has been feeling extremely insecure-and partly due to her-which in turn leads to them talking it out. But that’s just speculation. Who other than the writers know how it’ll actually go down?

After Pidge remarks everyone’s roles, they each present themselves to the Black Lion. While presenting themselves, Pidge is the second to try. We get a shot of her in the cockpit sitting on the chair using her helmet as a kind of booster seat.

Immediately following her is Lance. He takes a long time hoping he’ll be able to connect, but he doesn’t. The next shot we get is:

Lance. Also sitting on his helmet, pouting. Not exactly Plancey per se, but it is interesting they’re the only two to do this, right after one another.

Another scene we’ve seen a lot is this one:

On the first outing after switching lions, Pidge notices right away Lance isn’t with them. Keith being the newfound leader should have realized it first, or even Hunk. But Pidge is the one who points it out first.

[[[I’ve already touched on the biggest part of what I think is going on during s3E02 after this scene, in part two of this post, so I won’t be restating all that again here!]]]

Jumping all the way up to S4E03, after the reunion of Pidge and Matt, Pidge excitedly shows Matt around the ship. One of the things she thinks is important enough to show him is Kaltenecker.

[Pidge]: “This is our cow.”

The “our” here could most definitely mean Voltron as a whole. But technically “our” refers to Lance and Pidge, because they bought the game system together, and she came along with it. Therefore, Kaltenecker is “their” cow, since they both made the purchase. And y’all.

KALTENECKER HAS A BIG HEART ON HER BOOTY. A HEART. LOOK. It also kind of looks like there is: L, A/triangle, and a tree in the triangle mark. Plants, anyone? Anyhow.

Thanks to Matt’s data, Pidge is able to update the Galra Finder. Matt also has coded messages he couldn’t figure out. Thanks to Pidge and Hunk, they figure out how to decode the message. It’s a message from Zarkon for fleets to mobilize on a certain coordinate. By the end of the episode we hear another message, directly from Zarkkon this time, telling the Galra citizens to kill Lotor on sight.

According to their newly updated map, nothing is in that location. Shiro says they should be gathering intelligence before diving in, especially now that they know Zarkon is still alive. Pidge suggests they could go check it out. When Lance says he thinks they’d probably notice them, Pidge says they won’t if they’re cloaked.

[Matt]: “You have cloaking? Who are you?”

Lance looks up to Matt as he says this and then Lance smiles on the “who are you?” Pidge took it as a compliment, and that’s how Matt meant it. To see Lance smiling as soon as Pidge gets praised is so touching.

One of the bigger things I’d like to mention has to do with the next part of this scene:

[Pidge]: “I’m pretty sure I can upgrade Voltron with cloaking. We could all go.”

[Lance]: “Were you just waiting for your big brother to show up before you rolled that one out?”

Lance gives her an elbow/shoulder shove on her shoulder. An action we haven’t seen him do before in a casual way. We’ve seen an interaction near exact to this happen in the previous episode, S4E02, Reunion. Where did we see it? At the very end of the episode! Matt and Pidge are standing right outside the Garrison, and most likely the ship he’ll be leaving on, talking. Matt is super excited to go into space and Pidge is upset because she knows she’s going to miss him. The last scenes before the episode ends give us this:

[Matt]: “I’ll be back soon.”

[Pidge]: “You better, or I’m coming up to space *shoves* and getting you.”

Pidge did it as a sign of playful affection, albeit rough, and it’s likely Lance was doing it in a similar way as well. It may not be, but my brain was telling me this seemed like a pretty intended parallel. This is given because both the scenes with Pidge/Matt and Pidge/Lance happen within the total runtime of less than a single episode.

Buckle up because now we’re really going to jump! All the way to S7E02. This is the episode where the Paladins head back to Earth. For the road trip, Lance decides he’ll be the one to choose who rides with who.

As he’s saying this, The Green Lion is positioned right behind him and fairly prominently. It’s the only one of the five we see. At some point during the trip, the group comes to the realization they haven’t heard Pidge in a while, and she’s been all alone this whole time. Pidge being alone makes sense from the image above. The Green Lion is shown by itself, with Lance(who chose) in the foreground.

[Hunk]: “Hey, why haven’t we heard from Pidge?”

[Lance]: “Yeah. Wait. Who’s in her Lion again?”

[Keith]: “I don’t know. You’re the one that came up with this grouping.”

[Hunk]: “Well, she must have... no, they’re with Keith. Then the wolf is with Allura. I have the mice.”

[Allura]: “Is she all alone?”

I don’t believe for a second Lance didn’t know he left Pidge by herself or that he “just forgot”. His face here, although it could be from essentially being called dumb, looks like he’s almost annoyed everyone is starting to put the pieces together.

“Aw heck they freaking caught me. Sorry Pidge. Now they’re going to touch your stuff. She ends up with Coran, Romelle, the mice, and C/Kosmo.

While making a pitstop at a Blade of Marmora base they discover to be abandoned, a Galran fleet attacks them, and they get back in the Lions. During the fight, C/Kosmo teleport both Coran and Romelle to Keith and Allura’s Lions, respectively. This leaves Pidge with just C/Kosmo(maybe the mice too?), who she was originally supposed to take anyway. I find it interesting how she pretty much ends up alone again, thanks to a heavily blue colored character.

Next up, we have a scene from S7E03, where we hear two Galra soldiers talking.

[Sentry #1]: “And then, I heard they was given away free Kalteneckers with every purchase!”

[Sentry #2]: “Wait, did you say free?”

This conversation seems a little out of place, right? We don’t usually see generic Galra soldiers having conversations that don’t have something to do with Zarkon/Lotor/their own goals/battle/etc. So why is it here? Why bring up Kaltenecker? Who would they have heard that from? Why now?

Shortly after this comes the “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER” moment and the Paladins/Axca fighting with Zethrid and Ezor. On the way to the hangar, they see two guards keeping watch on their bayards and helmets. At which point Lance asks:

[Lance]: “They have weapons, and we don’t. Any suggestions?”

Pidge starts sliding out from the left meaning either Lance was specifically asking her, or he was asking Keith but Pidge already had an idea, only to be interrupted by Coran.

[Coran]: “Unhand those bayards, ya scallywags!”

The first one seems more likely because right after he asks what they should do, Pidge comes into focus, and it looked like she was ready to say something. And if it is because of the first option, this is another example of Lance looking to Pidge because he values her input.

After kicking the guards’ butts and exiting through the hangar, they’re attacked by more soldiers.

The first shot we get is Lance and Pidge in the foreground with the others in the background almost looking like pairs. Those pairs being: Shiro/Allura, Hunk/Romelle, and Coran/Krolia. We see no soldiers.

A red beam fires from directly behind them and Lance and Pidge are the first to be shown noticing it.

When they turn around, we get this shot. We see the soldiers, but that’s odd right? Pidge and Lance seemed a good bit ahead of everyone else and we were shown they were in fact right behind them. The shot fired from directly behind them, so when Pidge and Lance turn around, why don’t we see any of the other six people with them? I guess you could argue this shot is zoomed in so we can just focus on the sentries who are coming out better? But still.

Then we see Pidge and Lance being the only ones to attack back against the soldiers before we switch back to Keith and Axca setting off an explosion and escaping themselves.

We have another scene in the very next episode, S7E04, that also seems kind of out place. It too, mentions Kaltenecker. After Lance is selected by Zarkon for the solo card we get what we can call an intermission, or commercial break. The commercial we see is for It’s Earth! The place where Pidge and Lance got their game console and Kaltenecker. This could just be a callback but that seems unlikely.

We know the Paladins wake up and realize they all basically had a shared dream. And it’s generally believed dreams are a way for our brains to make sense of what happened during the day/sorting through memories. Lance and Pidge were the only ones to go to It’s Earth, and the game system and Kaltenecker were the most emphasized part of his ad. So if this really IS a collective dream, this has be coming from either Lance/Pidge, or both.

Moving onto S7E06, the Paladins have pretty much no power for their Lions. Shrio explains they could try to re-power the Lions themselves, like they’ve done once before. After his motivational speech and an add-on from Lance, Keith asks Shiro: “After all you went through, how did you find the strength to lead Voltron?” Shiro answers:

[Shiro]: “I had help. That’s why there are five of you. To lift each other up.”

Now this line coupled with this shot could have a few things going on in it. Allura and Hunk are both looking to Keith. We know Allura and Keith have had a couple heart to hearts. Her apologizing to Keith for how she acted when she learned he was Galra and also when they both separated themselves from the team when they thought Zarkon was locating Voltron through them. When it comes to Hunk, he and Keith have a heart to heart when Hunk gets back to Earth and he learns his family had been captured by the Galra. They talk it out and hug in both instances. But Lance and Pidge are looking directly at each other and the way it’s positioned, both their eye lines are over Keith’s and they’re making similar expressions in contrast to the other three. They haven’t had a heart to heart yet nor have either of them completely bonded with their Lions. Which means that could be something we’re heading for in S8, where they’ll somehow help each other complete that goal?

After the Paladins are hit by the unexplained energy pulse, they decide to tether the Lions together with zipline. While doing so, they get hit by another energy pulse and get separated from the Lions, but not from each other. This leads them all to link up by the arms. When they realize they have no kind of supplies on them, Keith explains:

[Keith]: Our suits will recycle enough moisture to keep us hydrated for a little while. We just need to hang tight. We have each other.”

And. Well. This one everyone already knows, but.

Pidge is sure as punch holding on tight. So basically this reads like: “The ones holding on tight have each other.” Meaning Lance and Pidge, since Pidge is the only one who seems like she’s really clutching onto somebody. This could also very well be a callback to when they were holding the lenses in place for the teleduv and Pidge tells Lance to “hang tight”.

Now, remember in the very first part of this post when I said to remember the trash poofs’ positions?

Something was bothering me about this episode, and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I saw screencaps a bunch of people were posting and noticed what seemed weird about it. When the Paladins first link together in a circle, they’re positioned like so:

After experiencing their group hallucination with the space fish bird things, they regroup like this:

Hunk moves between Keith and Allura while they both switch sides, and Lance and Pidge switch too, but they’re still linked together. Pidge is the only one still holding onto the two people she was originally linked with. This also now matches the way the poofs are aligned. Starting with Pidge and working our way clockwise we have: green/Pidge, blue/Lance, pink/Allura, and yellow/Hunk. The only color poof we don’t have is a red one. Black doesn’t count because Shiro is no longer a Lion pilot. Maybe this means something about how Keith tried to go off on his own, or maybe it means at some point he’ll break away from Voltron again. Who can say. Keith has a hallucination that seems to only effect him, and then they regroup for a third time. This time, it looks like this:

Notice it? They go back to how they were grouped the first time. They break formation TWICE but Lance and Pidge still end up beside each other.

When they finally make it back to Earth, they find the Galra have already invaded and set up shop. They successfully take down the Zaiforge cannons with help from the MFEs and kill Sendak. Just when they think it’s over, they get attacked by a super powerful robeast. When it attacks, it directly hits the Green Lion with the Red Lion looking right at it. This one is pretty self explanatory and there isn’t too much to say say about it, but it’s still there.

Lastly, our biggest hint that Plance will most likely be endgame is in the formation of Voltron itself. When it happens, we get the same animation pretty much every single time. We see two Lions shoot upward and intertwine, every time, and *only* two do this. And those ones are:

The Red and Green Lions! With this, them linking arms, “to lift each other up” and everything else I’ve mentioned definitely seems like it’s going to build to something between Lance and Pidge. Whatever the outcome is, we’ll just have to wait and see!

If none of these are actually parallels and it’s all coincidences and nothing matters then that’d sure suck. But this is how I interpreted these scenes and since I haven’t seen people really talking about most of the ones I mentioned(or I have something to add to the ones that have), I really wanted to put my thoughts out there on what I think the connections between them are. Anyway, let’s keep watering!

#plance #voltron #vld #voltron legendary defender #flirtyrobot

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no-error · 6 years

Text

How about some klance smut?

!This is pure smut!

If you dont like just ignore this :)

Space

(don't) hold my breath

Keith finds out a very important skill that Lance has: that he can hold his breath for a long time. He adds it to the list of reasons he’s pining after Lance—his right hand man, his teammate, his friend.

See also: sad desert boy falls hopelessly in love with self-proclaimed mermaid boy with a heart of gold. Watch these two oblivious idiots find their home in each other.

8,658 words AO3

Lucky Habits

Lance has a habit of licking his lips before he takes particularly difficult shots with his blaster.

Keith has begun to notice said habit and it's slowly driving him mad.

Thankfully, Lance isn't as oblivious as he seems.

9,485 words AO3

Hopelessly Devoted

“There he is,” Lance grinned, wide enough to break the kiss. He looked so damned satisfied, already. “There's my boy.”

4916 words AO3

Take Me, I'm Yours

An unfortunate coincidence leads to Keith hiding in a closet, while Lance gets it on with an alien woman outside. It changes everything.

Keith can't erase the sight from his mind. He can't sleep, he can't fight. He can't control himself.

There is nothing he can do except swallow his pride and ask Lance for a favor.

He should have known he would have to beg for it.

6,732 words AO3

Pix Or It Didn't Happen

Giving a whole new meaning to team bonding, Allura and Lance jointly plan a photography (read selfie) contest. Allura's contribution? Put the paladins in pairs for picture taking. Even before the teams were 'randomly' selected, Keith could have told you who he'd end up paired with. It goes about as well as could be expected.

14,690 words AO3

Boys Will Be Boys

There’s blood in his mouth, blood dripping from his nose, blood in his hair from where Keith fucking scratched him, blood boiling in his veins and clouding his vision with red. There’s too much blood for a friendly sparring session, that’s for sure.

This isn’t a friendly sparring session, not anymore.

6,736 words AO3

I just wanna make love to you

Both Paladin and Blade stood in silence for almost a full minute, staring at each other with indiscernible expressions (or at least Lance thinks the latter is, can’t really tell with the identity protecting mask adorning their face.)

Before he can stop himself, he opens his mouth with a smirk curling at his lips.

“You come here often?” Lance asks, tilting his head coyly.

26,736 words AO3

Research Purposes

In retrospect, Lance knew he was overreacting. Thinking about it just a little too hard. He just didn't consider Keith would ever be- Nah, actually, he wasn't that surprised... Did that mean Keith had totally been checking him out? Did he think he was hot? Would dudes be into him? What was it like to mess around with dudes? Was Keith experienced with that sort of thing? He just needed to know. For... science?

(In which Keith mentions something that reveals he's gay, Lance is excessively shocked, and everyone else already knew because it wasn't even a secret. In short, Lance is an oblivious idiot and finally accepts his bisexuality.)

10796 words AO3

You Always Say the Stupidest Shit

"I know what your problem is," Lance interrupts, pointing a finger at him and smirking as though he's just personally discovered the deepest secret of the universe. God only knows why Keith stops talking then, but in hindsight, he wishes he'd have just gotten louder.

"You need to get laid," Lance announces.

13,370 words AO3

The Royal Treatment (Altean Lance/Galra Keith!)

“You’ve met me, congratulations,” Keith said shortly.

“Now go meet someone else.

”“Ouch,” he said. “And that’s not true; I don’t even know your name yet!”Keith wrinkled his nose. Maybe telling this irksome creature his title would scare him off. “I am Lord Kethyr, second son of Emperor Zarkon,” he retorted.

“Satisfied now?”

The Altean, unfortunately, was not deterred in the slightest by this. “Ooh, a royal? How exciting. I’m Lance.”

11,998 words AO3

Modern

Don't Break Connection, Baby

(Series not completed 50,615 words 3 works)

Keith works part-time as a phone sex operator and receives a prank call from Lance. This does not go as planned for Lance. Thus begins the adventure of our dear sweet goofball continuing to call Keith to fuck with him (but not like fuck fuck with him...at least not yet). And y'know, eventually having legit conversations with him and getting attached and growing on Keith.

38,721 words AO3

Will you sing to the Beat of my Heart?

(Musician!Keith Verse not completed 10,132 words 2 works)

Keith is a musician sometimes playing in the park Lance walks through every day. Lance falls in love—both with the music, and Keith. Keith, meanwhile, can't help but notice the cutie in the crowd. Both think there is no chance to get to know each other—but fate has a different plan.

8,833 words AO3

Of Tinted Windows and Fancy Leather Seats

Drive Me Crazy Series not completed 9,345 words 2 works

"One last question, Keith. Do you want me to fuck you? If you say no, then I’ll leave you alone. You can also punch me if you want. But if you say yes, my car is here. Your pick, Mullet.”

5,964 words AO3

Fuck Buddies With Benefits

“Hey babe,” the blue-eyed male in Keith’s doorway drawls, leaning his weight on one arm and smirking down at Keith from the irritating two-inch height difference between them. The guy likes taking advantage of it while he can, before Keith shoves him onto the bed and is the one looking down for once.

Keith rolls his eyes and steps aside to let Lance into his dorm room, locking the door behind them in case Shiro stops by to check on him. Shiro would likely not be impressed by Keith’s self-care methods if he found his baby cousin in bed with some guy he met at the bar, a blank document still waiting to be filled on his laptop screen.

19,183 words AO3

The Patrulian Zone

Lance logs in to Oriande, the dating app known for easy hook ups with no strings attached. Finding Keith, he gets exactly what he signed up for.

So how come suddenly, it doesn't feel like enough?

17,498 words AO3

technologic

In which Lance sends Keith an accidental snapchat that somehow leads to them becoming sexting buddies.

5193 words AO3

A/B/O

Want (Want Series completed 83,799 words 4 works)

Lance makes the decision to sell himself for the sake of his family. The only problem is that no ones seems to want him. When Shiro buys Lance for his alpha little brother, the omega can't believe his luck.

But does Keith even want anything to do with his new gift or is Lance destined to be an unwanted omega forever?

24,695 AO3

In the heat of the moment

Lance runs out of suppressants and is outed as an Omega. Keith wants to be his alpha. So much angst, sugar sweetness, more angst, gotta have a baby, and all the lovins. Plus there's Shatt! What's not to love. Please don't get too wrapped up in timelines, dynamics, or the lack of season 4. This is fiction.

25,037 words AO3

The Lion's Pride

When Pidge confesses to being a female alpha and not a male one, the team realizes that she's not the only one hiding something. They realize Lance isn't the alpha he's posing as but actually an omega.

As with Pidge, they want to give Lance the time he needs to come clean on his own. But the team agrees to do their best to make Lance feel comfortable, considering how highly valued omegas are in packs.

Two team/pack-members especially find this new realization fascinating. Keith and Shiro want Lance to be their own omega. But can they handle the secret Lance is hiding, the one that made him cover up his status to begin with...?

30,822 woords AO3

Practically Strangers

(Practically Everything Series not completed, 8,117 words 2 works)

Lance was, in all aspects, an omega. He had accepted this part of him long ago, even embraced it. Keith was, in all forms of the word, an alpha. He was also pretty much a stranger, but Lance was willing to ignore that fact in favor of, um, other things.

4,768 words AO3

Your Sex I Can Smell

Lance was in hell… or heaven depending on your outlook. But for him it was currently hell. He’d not been expecting to go into heat, ever. Heat was an Omega thing and as far as he knew 99.9% of Omegas were chicks.

He thought he’d just be another Beta, he’d given up hopes of becoming an Alpha when he still hadn’t presented by seventeen. But to be this late… to be twenty one and only just developing it was… humiliating. And as an Omega at that. But he had a plan. He could just... disguise it. Hide his scent.

Which was great. Except now Keith was almost impossible to get near, to tease and banter and basically annoy just to get a rise out of him. Lance missed seeing his face, missed his scent. His schoolboy crush had developed into something strangely immature for a twenty one year old but potent nonetheless. But Keith wouldn't give him the time of day. At least, not until a project forced them to work together.

25,747 words AO3

What Else Could a Virgin Omega Do?

Lance was standing where he never thought he'd be standing, in line at the front desk of the nearest Alpha Brothel.

13,831 words AO3

Don't Forget Your Vitamins

(series not completed 13,221 words 2 works)

Lance is an omega. Keith is a beta. This was something Lance had made peace with and determined that there was no way they could ever work. No matter how much he would like it to. Saving the universe and all that didn’t leave a whole lot of time to pursue such a complicated relationship.

However, when Keith finally starts getting the food and nutrition his hybrid body needs he is finally revealed to be an alpha. As he struggles with his new presentation, Lance tries his best to be there for him and support him. But it's difficult when the guy you love is now totally capable of giving you the best sex of your life.

11,406 words AO3

Fuck self control (but really, don't.)

Lance hadn't presented by the time they got into space, leaving him vulnerable. Everything is fine until Keith's rut, and then it isn't

8,003 words AO3

Omegaverse Series

Suddenly all Keith can hear is Hunk’s voice yelling over the com.

“Keith! You have to get out of there. Now!”

Keith wants to ask what’s wrong, but then the smell hits him.

The sickly sweet, and unmistakable smell of an omega in heat.

He whips around and sees Lance, standing a few feet back, bracing himself against the wall. His face is flushed, and he’s breathing heavy.

“I … I don’t feel so good.”

22,606 words 3 works AO3

kiss like it's poisonous series (not completed)

A collection of all my fics that belong to this omegaverse au. It's basically just Keith and Lance being idiots and dancing around each other for like a span of five years, and you will all get the pleasure of reading it.

43,504 words 3 works AO3

You All Over My Skin, I'm Anxious

The worst part of it though, was that Keith was an alpha. A stupid, hotheaded alpha that Lance couldn’t help but get in petty arguments with like they had been married for fifty years. Keith, with his stupid mullet and how stupidly good he was at hand to hand combat and how stupidly hot he sounded when training. Lance would have gotten on his knees for him in seconds if he only asked. But an alpha needed an omega, and Lance was just a stupid beta.

5,898 words AO3

#klance #fanfic #fanfic list #smut #lance mcclain #keith kogane #voltron #vld #my list

1K notes · View notes

thelionshoarde · 6 years

Text

shance; vld6 reaction fic

@pink-contrail and anon mentioned lance calling shiro silver fox and i was just ALL OVER THAT except not REALLY because i had some feels and this got carried away and in the end I’M NOT SURE WHAT I REALLY EVEN WROTE?? AT ALL?? this is very strange but it is also for you shance fam, cause i love you. (gonna tag for a touch of ableism? boys going through tough times and dealing with it okay but not great and yelling at each other a little bit? feelings?? pre-relationship??)

you can also read this on ao3 here

“Hey,” Lance said, loitering by the door. “What are, uh... dude, what are you doing?“

Shiro pursed his lips, not bothering to look up from the clippers in his hand. His thumb was resting just below the button to turn it on, hesitant, just as it had been for the past five minutes. “Hm..”

“...Shiro? Should I --”

Shifting his hip against the edge of the sink so that it dug in, Shiro tried not to let his shoulders tense.

“-- want some help? I used to buzz my brother Marco’s hair all the time, you know. Got pretty good at it. No rough patches or weird lines or anything, I can --”

bzzzzt

Lance stopped talking, and Shiro could feel him hovering just on the precipice of the entrance way to the bathroom. He’d been doing that ever since Shiro’d woken up, really, treating him with distance and caution.

Well, except for that second time when he’d burst into tears and apologized in a high, choked voice for not hearing him, as if it was his fault that this had happened, as if it was Lance’s fault that Shiro had been dead, and as if it meant something that it had been Keith who got him back, and --

It did mean something. What Keith had done was... so much. More than Shiro had expected. More than he had dared to hope.

But it --

It wasn’t --

Huffing a frustrated breath, Shiro clicked the button again, letting silence fill the bathroom once more. It seemed suspiciously bright, suddenly, the overhead lights flaring at the corners of his eyes, like light through a prism, or water droplets. His shoulders heaved, just a little, and he leaned harder into the sink, shoulder twitching.

Why did everything feel like such a mess? So much confusion, so much uncertainty? What was Shiro supposed to think? How was he meant to react? Keith looking at him with those bright eyes. Pidge barely looking at him at all. Allura heartbroken and Lance wandering about like he’d forgotten his place in the world, too quiet and shuttered, it --

It sucked. A part of Shiro just wished he could go to sleep and not wake up until the universe started making sense again.

“You know...” Lance said, voice careful but still managing to startle Shiro. He had gotten caught up in his thoughts again, swirling and swirling, so fast and frantic. God, he was so tired. Rest, Allura had said, and he had so why didn’t it feel like enough? Why --

Frustrated, Shiro blurted out, “Just -- out with it, Lance. I’m not going to break if you speak your mind, okay? Just because I died the once doesn’t mean I’m going to drop dead at the first --”

“Whoa,” cut in Lance, voice sharp. “Whoa, whoa! What are you talking about?!”

Shiro dropped the clippers into the sink with a clatter; turned around and leaned against the sink so he could give Lance a strained smile. He half-hid his face beneath his hand, rubbing wearily at his forehead, knowing that his expression would still come off as pinched.

“Nothing,” he said. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

Unconvinced, Lance leaned back dangerously far on his heels, eyes narrowed. “Sure,” he said, mouth twisted in suspicion. “Sure, yeah, definitely nothing. Should I -- Should I get Keith?”

Should I should I should I.

“I dunno,” Shiro drawled, sagging back in sudden exhaustion. “Should you? Seems to me like you’re awfully unsure of yourself these days, Lance. Not exactly fitting for the Red Paladin, don’t you think?”

This time, Lance rocked forward onto his toes, eyes narrowed to near slits, a slight flush of annoyance touching his face. It almost made Shiro smile.

“Fine. You wanna know what I think? I think you’re having a pity party in your bathroom, Shiro. Party of one, and that’s not cool. If you want to hack off all your hair, go for it. Just do it! Be bald! Bald and beautiful, baby, I’m sure you could pull it off --”

Damn, Shiro thought, blinking hard; almost forgot what a mouth he has on him.

“-- so just stop wallowing already, and let us help you. It’s not like it was easy for us, either, all right? Like, not easy AT ALL, DUDE. You don’t think we’re all reeling, here? You think you’re the only one who died, Shiro? Nope! Spoiler alert! That select group also includes me, in case you were wondering! And ohhh no, poor Shiro, his handsome boyfriend goes above and beyond to save him --”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Shiro whispered, heart pounding.

“-- who cares,” Lance exploded, arms waving wildly. His face was flushed bright red, eyes gleaming. “It doesn’t -- that’s fine. That’s the point, Shiro. All of this -- everything -- it’s going to be fine. But we all need some time to not be fine, okay? So stop acting like we’re all, I dunno, crazy for dealing with it in our own ways, yeah? Or like we’re offending you for trying to give you the space and respect you deserve, you --”

“Lance,” Shiro said, helplessly, fingers curled so tight around the lip of the sink his knuckles ached.

“-- you idiot,” Lance finished, eyes shimmering with tears.

“Uhm,” tried Shiro. “Do you want to, ah, sit down? Take a deep breath, maybe?”

“Shut your face,” Lance groaned, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes with a showy grimace. “Ugh, this is -- exhausting.”

A corner of Shiro’s lip quirked; his heart was still racing, unsettled. “...Yeah. It really is.”

“I hate emotions. I’m returning mine. Do not want. Send to good home. Or bad, I don’t care, I just don’t want them anymore. First my one crush crushes on someone else and then gets betrayed, and I’m not -- I’m not going to try anything, okay? I’m not gonna be that guy, but shit. How am I supposed to feel, exactly? And then my other stupid crush gets a fairy-tale ending, and it’s just -- I’m done. I’m soooo done. I’m going to become a nun as soon as we get to Earth, Shiro, I swear it.”

...Shiro’s mouth felt dry. He wasn’t certain he could breathe.

Delicately, he asked, “Your...other stupid crush?”

Lance went still as the grave.

“Uhm. Pretend I didn’t say that.”

Shiro thought about pushing. He really, really did, but... the space and respect you deserve. Right. He could do that too, even when it felt like he was drowning, even though everything seemed too much, and distant, and strange. Even being back in his body was weird -- the sound of his heartbeat -- the way his teeth clacked together.

“I missed this,” he said instead, without meaning to.

Confused, Lance crossed his arms, leaning against the doorjamb once more. He still looked nettled though, ready to go off again. “What?”

“Your -- noise.”

Incredulous, Lance’s eyebrows rose, mouth dropping open in offense.

Oh, shit. Abort, Shirogane, abort!

“That came out wrong,” he rushed to explain, throwing up a hand -- whoops, wrong one. Just his right shoulder twitched, and Shiro jerked his head down to glare at it, annoyed. At least it made Lance pause, long enough for Shiro to say, sheepishly, “It was... real quiet, with Black. I could... everything she saw, I saw. But it... it wasn’t nearly enough. And you -- you’re warm, Lance. Loud, and bright, and I -- I remember thinking when the silence got to be too... too much, that I really missed you going off on one of your diatribes.”

“Huh,” said Lance.

Shiro shrugged, like he was trying to roll the awkwardness off him.

“I don’t really know what I want,” he admitted, feeling -- embarrassed, wrong, ashamed. “I feel like I should. I should. But I just -- I’ve been gone so long. And I had so much time to think that I’m not sure I know what to think anymore, you know? You’re all so... You’ve been living your lives, but I just... stopped.”

Lance flapped his hand at him dismissively. “Who says you have to? Huh? Who says any of us need to know what we want? Who says it can’t change, Shiro? That we can’t change our minds over and over again?”

“I...”

“Who.”

“No one,” Shiro yelped, “Fine. No one! It -- ugh! Lance, I don’t. I don’t want to do this right now, I just want --”

“To shave off all of your hair?”

Shiro grimaced. He’d almost forgotten about the reason he was in the bathroom to begin with. His hand was shaking when he brought it back to his forehead, rubbing hard at the skin beneath his bangs. “I just... it reminds me of all that I’ve lost.”

Snorting, Lance said dryly, “And a shiny bald head won’t? Just leave it, Shiro. Let it settle. Give it time.” Shiro rolled his eyes to the ceiling, because that hadn’t been subtle at all, ha. “It’s okay to start again. We’re not going anywhere. You’ve got time, buddy.”

“...it makes me look old,” Shiro admitted, nearly mumbling.

“Ha!”

Narrowing his eyes, Shiro twisted his mouth so that he wouldn’t accidentally smile. Lance was grinning at him, mood as mercurial as ever. Steadier, yes, more prone to startling insight, but still as willing to rise to a challenge or give in to humor as he had been, before.

Shiro wished he knew what all he had missed; he wanted the pieces of the puzzle, to see how and where he fit into all of this.

He wanted --

“What?” he forced himself to ask, though his tongue felt clumsy and strange. “You disagree?”

Almost gently, Lance teased, “Shiro, you’re a Silver Fox if there ever was one.”

...Huh.

“You just like white hair,” Shiro said on autopilot, not even thinking about what Lance had said earlier about --

“Yeah, well,” Lance muttered, scratching beneath his jaw and side-eying the medicine cabinet with intense interest, “hair isn’t really what makes someone attractive, you know.”

-- crushes.

As in plural.

“Right,” Shiro coughed, and what the hell, why was there heat rising in his face?

“Give it a week,” said Lance, eyes flickering back to him and then away again. “A week, okay? And if you still want to buzz it all off let me know. I’ll do it for you, okay?”

“...Okay,” Shiro allowed.

Lance nodded; one short, sharp jerk of his chin, and then he was grinning brightly -- Shiro couldn’t tell if it was fake or real or what, just that it was near blinding -- and started to walk himself lazily backwards, toward the door. “Well, then, my duty is done. I’m just gonna, go -- leave you to it, and --”

“Lance,” Shiro asked, lurching forward fast to catch him before he hit the door. “Why did you come here? I mean -- did you need anything?”

For a moment, Lance just looked at him, something in his gaze that Shiro couldn’t place. Something serious about the set of his mouth that made his heart beat unsteadily again. Uncomfortable, Shiro wanted to look away, but --

Somehow, he didn’t quite dare.

“No,” Lance said, simple and easy, “Just checking in.”

Weird, how his stomach felt all wobbly and strange. “Thanks,” he said, and had to lick his lips; they felt painfully dry. “Do you -- later, will you come back? Can I ask you... questions? About...”

Careful, Lance said, “Keith would --”

“Keith wasn’t here,” Shiro said, voice a little too loud. He cleared his throat, and said more quietly. “He wasn’t... here, with you guys. With me. And we’ve... we’ve already talked. I -- like I said, Lance. I missed your noise. I want to talk to you.”

He tried to grin a little, knowing it was crooked, but still hoping it would be enough to convince him. By the way Lance only looked more skeptical, Shiro didn’t think it worked, but --

“Sure,” Lance said. “That’s. Uh, fine. I’ll be by later, yeah? After dinner?”

Shiro nodded eagerly, and then said, dumbly, “Sure! I mean, yes, please, I’d... I’d like that.”

Thankfully, that was enough. Lance laughed a little, shaking his head, but shot off a little casual salute and spun on his heel, leaving with a lazy, rolling stride that Shiro found... a little distracting.

Maybe.

Everything was so confusing. Nothing was what he remembered. And it just -- he didn’t know how to deal with it, he didn’t, what was he meant to do with any of this, he just --

Spinning on his heel, Shiro stared at himself in the mirror, gaze defiant.

God, even his eyebrows had gone white.

Just give it time, he thought, trying hard. A week. Give it -- a week. Then he thought, ...Silver Fox, huh? and watched a grin steal its way across his face, a little smug.

#vld6 spoilers #shance #shance fic #apparently i have A LOT TO UNLOAD #and this fic touched briefly on a fair amount of it but NOT ALL #or in depth #but i needed to write SOMETHING #pre-relationship??#voltron #vld #o shiro my shiro #my fic

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ptw30 · 6 years

Text

VLD Season 7 Reactions: Part 2

Hi, @dreamworksanimation and @voltron! Hope you had a great holiday weekend. I received more asks since the last time I sent you a post. Please give these a read, as these are the reviews sent to me from the fandom. Best - ptw30

Anonymous said: Voltron is all build up and no follow up. They teased us with a very cool premise and then slowly went away from it till they finally went to "nope don't remember didn't happen". And the EPs even seem proud of that. I wonder if they ever watched the show :(

The EPs lack the ability to bring a resolution or closure. We never find out Haggar’s motivation or reasoning about Operation Kuron. We never find out who the “other one” was in the pilot. We never find out Shiro’s bayard form. Lance’s insecurities are never resolved. We never find out the limitations of Allura’s powers - she can transfer souls but can’t find the Black Lion galaxies away? There’s just so much left out of the story.

Anonymous said: Sometimes I think about all of voltron’s loose threads and how this next season is the last and am then transported back to my high school days of putting off projects until the last second, throwing something together, aiming for at least a passing grade.

The EPs failed a long time ago, if that’s the case. When they decided to kill off one of the main characters without allowing the team to grieve, forced the most popular paladin off the team, demoted the leader of the team to a soldier, and abandoned its own lore, including breaking the strongest paladin-lion bond without any explanation - they failed to give the viewers any satisfying conclusion to this story. No matter what the next 13 episodes include, it won’t make up for the middle 39 episodes that literally brought tragedy after tragedy, especially to the team’s only LGBTQ+, multiple-minority character.

@sweet-rabbit said: You know, if the EPs wanted us to not like, nay, LOVE AND ADORE Shiro as much as we do, it was probably a huge misstep on their or whoever's part that they hired a man who voiced a freakin' DISNEY RENAISSANCE CHARACTER to voice Shiro. The blasted fools, the lot of them!

Josh Keaton is a consummate professional, and no doubt, Andrea Romano nailed it when working with him and the team. If there is one thing that is absolutely, without a doubt, above reproach with this show - it’s the voice acting. It is outstanding.

@safeautistickeith said: Damsel Shiro aaaaalways felt Suspect ™ for me. Like. Keith can say, ”we saved each other” (whoever wrote that bless them) But, lbr Shiro’s sidelining was a slowburn that started from his damsel-dom. S1: S and K each got a Big Save. K saved S when he came back to Earth. S saved K when K went after Zarkon (Shiro voice: I’ve got you, buddy) S2: K saved S in Across the Universe. S saved K in Marmora. Equals? Yes. Truly. Then s3 comes along and it’s not longer this beautiful, mutual thing, but Shiro becomes a Damsel in Distress. Which Yikes ™ Asian man demoted to damsel? Unfortunate implications. He’s arc has been about leading up until then? Unfortunate implications. He’s a gay male( the reveal planned in s2??) un for tu nate implications. There’s a line between, ”you can be masc and also need help” and just making him a damsel. Big Yikes.

Voltron originally broke tropes, which was awesome. Allura wasn’t a princess locked away in a castle-ship but a knock-out, drag-out warrior who wasn’t afraid to get into the fray. Shiro, the strong-willed leader, wasn’t afraid to accept help. Keith, the loner, felt perhaps the most for his team. “Loverboy” Lance was actually the heart of the team, rather than a female character playing that part. Hunk, too, was strong but scared, and Pidge was not the stereotypical girl figure.

In Season 3, the story began to fall into the traps of the tropes it had broken, and it’s been a demoralizing and disappointing journey ever since.

@melissa18999 said:The lack of characters being challenged emotionally is why everything after season 2 bothers me. Kuron’s arc didn’t test the characters on an emotional level given how after the arc is over everyone just moves on. It’s there only to write actual shiro out of the show for a bit rather than seriously affect the cast. Same thing with Keith’s [crap] and every other character. Nothing tests them emotionally. (Maybe Allura with Lotor)

VLD misses a lot of emotional beats. One of the biggest failures was not showing when the team learned about Keith’s Galran heritage. Then we never see the emotional fallout with the clone, other than the team referring to him as “evil.” The clone fought alongside with the team, perhaps longer than Shiro, and the team never mourned him. Sendak and Shiro’s fight? Shiro never says a word, and then Keith kills Sendak, taking away Shiro’s right to fight back against his one-time captors.

Lotor had Pidge’s dad and didn’t even try to make her a traitor to Team Voltron? Narti could control minds and not one of the paladins was ever brainwashed by her? Haggar did it to a clone, not even Shiro.

Even Allura and Lotor’s relationship - Allura’s anger was the stereotypical “woman scorned.”

So much potential, and it’s just wasted.

Anonymous said: An ask or two doesn't have enough room to describe how much Shiro means to me, how much strength I draw from him, how many dark places he's helped me out of. But s6's treatment of kuron/shiro left me in tears and nearly dissociating for hours, and it's the only season I haven't rewatched. And here's the kicker: Everything I've read about s7 has made the thought of watching it feel identical to an urge to self harm. I want the EPs to think about that. I want them to think hard about people like me, because I doubt I'm the only one who's been affected like this. And I want them to really, really consider if this is the story they wanted to tell. If this is the effect they wanted their story to have.

Shiro is important to many people in terms of representation, and I’ve read many posts about people who identify with him. I’m glad he’s had an impact upon your life, and I hope you can still take comfort in the earlier seasons. Please take care.

Anonymous said: I think I'd be okay with the "Shiro had a degenerative disease" if that was it alone. Like, it's a really good explanation of why everyone so readily accepted the pilot error thing despite Shiro being an absolute legend of a pilot. But it was tied together with his gay reveal and then the story he was shoved into and... I cannot like it, or accept it.

Shiro was revealed to be LGBTQ+, have a degenerative disease, and lose his place in Voltron - all in one season. The juxtaposition of the reveals is reprehensible, and it sends a horrible message to people who have mental and physical struggles, are LGBTQ+, and minorities.

Anonymous said: So, here's why the "it's a show abt war so you have to suffer watching, bc there's only tragedy" excuse is weak: It’s a show about space robots, a space robot called voltron. It's not a show about drama, about people dying and it never was. It was supposed to be a show about teamwork (supposed bc that premise has left the building a long time ago) with war comes death? Yes, absolutely, but its not an excuse to kill all of the lgbt characters

That’s the issue - it’s not an excuse to kill all the LGBTQ+ characters. A show about war that has death and handles appropriately is one thing. Mourning the clone, mourning Shiro, mourning Narti - all those things should have happened, and they didn’t. (These characters were also all with physical and mental disabilities, DreamWorks.)

Showing children closure, helping them to understand death - is a good lesson to learn. But excluding Shiro from his only family, killing his one-time SO in a “fringe” move, and then killing the other LGBTQ+ couple in the show - not to mention killing Shiro four times - that’s a message DreamWorks should not be sending children.

Anonymous said: The one thing I wanted from Voltron Season 7: Shiro getting to reunite with the team, and work with them again as a part of the team - also, the one thing the Voltron EPs refuse to allow.

Not to be technical - but that’s actually two things. Shiro did reunite with the team, but unfortunately, he wasn’t a part of the team. In fact, he was excluded to the point of no longer even being called a paladin, according to “The Journey Within,” and I agree. I wanted that in Season 7 as well.

Anonymous said: I'm still lowkey [mad] that Sincline, made of the same material as Voltron, was not sentient, but the MFE fighters and Atlas, which are reverse-engineered galtean tech and run off... idk what they run off, magic low-charge batteries maybe... are implied sentient.

I’m not sure, but I can say - I am sad that didn’t pan out, either. I wanted to see what Lotor and his generals could do in Sincline. I’m sad that Atlas, clearly built for Allura, didn’t talk to Allura first. Instead, she will always be Blue’s second choice, Lance Red’s second choice, and Keith left to Black because Shiro...didn’t not to fly Black anymore? I’m not quite sure why. The story never tells us.

Rounding back - Sincline had so much more potential than was realized.

Anonymous said: In not committing to a specific black paladin, or even a specific direction and endgame, the story failed to stay together. It fell apart in the same manner a soft cheese does when pressed to a fine-hole cheese grater.

There are a lot of things that failed to keep the story together. The first and foremost was - you need to keep the team together, or at the very least, not lose two of your main characters in one 26-episode batch, one character for 24 episodes, another for 12.

Anonymous said: If the EP's have treated Shiro as an equal instead of a 'problem' they had to put up with, would VLD have not have gone downhill? It does feel like their dislike for one character and their stubbornness to stick to their original plan is what dragged the show down. It really does feel like what happened behind the scenes has become a cautionary tale on what you shouldn't do when writing a story and its characters.

I can’t say for sure, but what I can say is - the moment the EPs saw Shiro not as a character but as a plot device, is the moment the story began to unravel.

cc: @netflix

#voltron #voltron critical #shiro #vld season 7 #dreamworks #anon #answered #melissa18999 #sweet-rabbit #safeautistickeith:

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lotura-archive · 6 years

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The Second Law - Replies to Chapter 4 Reviews

Thanks to the following awesome people for reviewing Chapter 4 of my Lotura story, The Second Law, on AO3: IndiiBrownFlowerCrown, Gabriel, Phydia, Nagisa, Mistmoon12, TsukimiDai, Lyra, anything_past_or_present, octopus_hatred, EllieDoll, TwoHeartsAreBetterThan1, UltraFirelily, hiiraeth, KokoaKirkland, NickyADon, Amanda, TiffanyBlue, Red, AMountainFullOfDragons, wolf_feather, Leopardbreath, Touched, Hiakari_natsume, Lucy, Kyndall, rosesoftheempire, and Smallblaa! I really appreciate you all, and again I’m so excited to see many of you returning to review once again! That means so much. Individual Replies to Questions/Prompts: · Nagisa: I definitely intend to show Lotor interacting with all of the other paladins, yes! Thank you so much for continuing to read and review. · TsukimiDai and Smallblaa: You bring up a good point, that usually it’s bad to feed too much to a starved person because it’s a shock to their system. If he were human, I think Allura would have been really adamant with Hunk about not overdoing it! (But who knows, maybe it will still affect him somehow.) Thanks for reviewing!

· Lyra: You’re right, that is a terribly catching and annoying song. Now it’s stuck in my head, thanks a lot, haha. I’ll keep it in mind. Thanks for reviewing!

· UltraFirelily: Good question about Blade of Marmora. I think Lotor will definitely have some interaction with them. As far as my head canons about BoM and emotional bonds, I recall that their mantra is, “Knowledge or death.” They are still very much informed by their mother culture (“Victory or death!”), and so I think they would be stiff about emotional bonds, seeing them as highly valued but perhaps something private and to be guarded as such. Thanks for reviewing!

· Red: I think you were the only one who mentioned/noticed that “Alfreda” is a parody of “Alexa.” I’m so excited you caught that. Also, nice use of meme. XD Thanks for reviewing!

· Lucy: Thanks for reviewing! I’m totally winging this story, so I’m not sure how long it will be. However, there are enough potential plot points that would allow me to string this out for several more chapters. Also, thanks again for asking about Tumblr and inspiring me to create an account for Lotura stuff. Feel free to reach out anytime with thoughts or questions!

· NickyADon, Leopardbreath, and wolf_feather: It means so much that you said this story made you cry/teary-eyed (in a good way, haha)! I really appreciate that you feel invested enough to have an emotional reaction at all. Thanks so much for reviewing!

· AMountainFullOfDragons: I will definitely include a scene where Lotor discovers how long he’s been a prisoner, and I’ll try to make it as interesting as I can, haha. Thanks for reviewing!

· Kyndall: I would absolutely love Lotor and Pidge to become science buddies; I think I saw an interview with Lotor’s voice actor, in which he had said that Pidge would’ve been Lotor’s favorite, haha. Thanks for reviewing!

· Amanda: Thank you for the high praise! I just want our purple elf to be happy too, haha. Season 6 just makes it…a little more difficult to get there. XD I feel like I have to do a lot of acrobatics to create a storyline where both Lotor and Romelle are innocent victims. I do promise there will be more fluffy/happy Lotor moments ahead!

· TiffanyBlue: Haha, poor Allura definitely has her work cut out for her, to try and hide that she’s kissed/been in love with Lotor’s clone. I’m not sure yet how the real Lotor will discover this, though. XD Thanks for reviewing!

#review replies #the second law #voltron #you are all amazing #I hope this new system works well for everyone #author's notes get really long with review replies included in them I've discovered #still trying to avoid falsely inflating the review number on AO3 #Maybe one day AO3 will get private messaging?#thankful for reviews and support

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alluratron · 7 years

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in anticipation of march 2nd here's my season 5 wishlist

AKA a list of things I’d like to see and theories I want confirmed in the upcoming season(s).

more info on operation kuron. i’d like more hints at what kuron is or even full on confirmation that s3/s4 shiro is a clone.

a genuine moment between allura and lotor. they’ve both lost their home planets, after all. lotor twice over.

lotor’s backstory. when tf was he born??? he knows honerva was his mother, but doesn’t seem to connect her with haggar. hell, haggar didn’t even know about honerva. so, was lotor born before the war? is he 10,000 years old? why does he look so young? was he frozen somehow? why are his eyes blue???? what is up with this guy????

lotor double crosses team voltron. i don’t want him to be an anti-hero. i want him to be undeniably a villain, even if he does have genuine aspects to him. less zuko, more azula (in that we understand that azula is a product of her upbringing, but still evil nonetheless).

allura’s magic. i always want more of allura’s magic. i want to learn more about sacred alteans and why allura is seemingly more powerful than what’s normal even for sacred alteans.

the white lion theory. in s4 ep3, acxa says that the two sincline (i see what they did there) ships used 60% of the comet and there’s more than enough left to make the third ship. this extra comet material is definitely going to come into play somehow. it’s likely going to become the head of the sincline ships but i’d love if it became the white lion and allura piloted it. not that i think allura has to be a paladin to be valuable, but she seems to want to be one (and i just want my bb to be happy so yknow).

keith’s heritage to be revealed. how galra is he? who is his mother?? can we meet her??? we know she was a blade but i want to know how she ended up on earth. it’d make sense if she was half galra half altean/polluxian.

yeah okay so i really think keith is part altean/polluxian. i need an explanation as to why he looks so damn human and that one fits for me.

i also really need to know why the hell keith could sense the blue lion. it’s been 39 episodes give me some answers @lauren @jds @entire vld crew.

the “for narti” squad to join team voltron. i know it’s unlikely because of lotor allying with the team, (and the trailer showing them with zarkon) but i really do think those girls deserve a chance at redemption. they’re such interesting characters and i’d love to see them interact with the team.

i also really need to know what the connection between keith and acxa is. we really haven’t seen any payoff for them meeting in the weblum or him recognising her in s3 ep6. she took a bag of scaultrite which could’ve been hinting that they have an altean (aka lotor) but they just as easily could’ve dropped that hint by how they tried to steal a piece of the teludav. acxa’s connection to keith seems to be something else at play. my hope is twins, or at least siblings.

narti comes back tbh. i don’t know how that would happen but i miss her and i want her back.

team voltron returns to the original lineup. i like matching colours, what can i say.

ok i massively downplayed that but seriously the bond between paladin and lion was so hyped up in s1 and s2 that the lion shuffle will never quite sit right with me. blue chose lance out of all available paladins. she didn’t go back to the castle on her own and take allura. she chose lance. that’s gotta mean something. and red has gone after keith too many times for their relationship to be over now. 4 times in one season. he loves his tiny fleshy son pls reunite them.

hunk’s family. i want to know about them. i want him to mention them at the very least. i know tyler said hunk’s mom taught him how to cook so please let him say this in canon. also acknowledge him being samoan in canon please and thanks.

lance’s “i’m just a boy from cuba” line. i thought it’d be in s3 but nope. i don’t mind waiting for his arc because i appreciate that it’s a long one, but i’m really curious as to the context of that line. also i want to know all the people in the picture from s1 ep2.

allura and coran talking about what altea was like before the war. just some cultural background.

coran’s family, if he had one. i want to know more about this man and what he lost when altea was destroyed.

more alteans in THIS reality because there’s no way this race of diplomats were all on the planet when it was destroyed. i don’t buy that, soz.

polluxians! i really want the alteans with two sets of markings in s3 ep7 to be polluxians. mainly because i want romelle to be introduced. apparently she’s badass. more badass girls is always a yes from me.

zaggar dynamic. does zarkon know that haggar was honerva? seems so, considering how he indulges her far more than he does anyone else. does he know that she knows now?

friendship. i know that sounds really lame lmao but i really do want friendship. i want the team to hangout. i want to see pairs or trios hanging out. i want casual team banter. i want wacky shenanigans. blease.,,,,.,. @dreamworks,.,.,,. just let these dorks be friends.

lance not being possessive of allura….ever again. please stop it’s uncomf. if they’re going down the romance route for them, cool. but do it by showing allura somewhat reciprocating lance’s interest. please don’t encourage the “guy hounds the girl until she agrees” trope. it’s harassment. lance has backed off from flirting and that’s great but if there’s gonna be a romance there, maybe have allura flirt instead.

if there isn’t a romance there, just give me them being good friends blease. their relationship has been so good and mutually supportive so please continue with that. facemask buddies would be a blessing. i’d actually cry.

more of that good co-leadership shallura content. keep allura in charge 2kforever. also let them confide in each other. it’s tough being a leader. also also, let them be soft please i beg. throw it back to the softness in s2 ep5. that level of softness is what i crave.

the team convincing keith that they’ll always love him and he doesn’t have to push them away because they’ll never leave him. help this boy overcome his fear of rejection please.

keith comforting lance in a way that actually, uh, works. i appreciate his effort in s3 ep6 but he’s gotta do better than that for them to have a balanced friendship.

lotor’s plan. i really need to know exactly what this boy is up to?? he wants to reap an “untold amount more” quintessence to do what? it’s surely not for the empire’s benefit - he doesn’t care about them. so why? is it something to do with his mother? also, why couldn't his ships cross into the other reality? they’re made of the same thing as voltron?

#voltron #vld #vlds4 #vlds5 #vld meta #vld analysis #vld wishlist #maybe if i have a super long wishlist i'll get like.....2 things i want pls #ive had this list in my drafts for MONTHS #literally since s4 dropped #so anyway #here it is

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chaoticqueertiefling · 7 years

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Waking the Lions

Part 1

The hanger doors hissed shut behind Lance as he walked towards the control room. Sweat splattered as he removed his helmet and he could hear a conversation up ahead. With a lack of trust in Lotor, Lance had done a quick perimeter check before joining the rest on the castleship. Something in his gut was twisting; something that showed up right after Shiro invited Lotor aboard. Lance had hoped for a protest from Allura, but she had remained quiet.

He stepped onto the deck to greet the others and the conversation hushed.

"Lance, you can relax, the princess, Coran and I are questioning Lotor." Shiro's arms were crossed over his chest. Allura stood beside him, still in her paladin armor.

"I thought we'd all be here as a team, y’know, since we just evaded death." The blue paladin crossed his arms to match Shiro.

Shiro shook his head. "The princess and I both agreed that you kids could use a break. Pidge and Hunk are with Matt in the lounge and I believe Keith mentioned he'd be on the training deck."

Lance met his leader’s gaze with unease. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean,” he paused and gave Lotor a stare, “We don’t know what his motives are.” He relaxed when Allura placed her hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay Lance, it’s part of being a diplomat. He just saved us. We can at least hear his side of everything that has been going on.”

He wanted to protest, but he knew he couldn’t change her mind. Lance nodded and forced a smile on his face. He winked at Allura and turned to walk out and join the others.

"See you later, Blue Paladin." Lance could hear the smirk on Lotor's face as he uttered that horrible greeting. He pondered for a moment if he should stay with Allura, an extra paladin wouldn’t hurt to keep her safe, but he shook it off knowing Shiro would protect her if needed. On the other hand, his gut was hoping Shiro would.

Lance found Pidge, Hunk and Matt catching up and playing Killbot Phantasm I in the lounge. Cushions were strewn about, some close to knocking drinks over, and a bowl of a popcorn substitute lay tipped over next to Pidge’s foot. He noticed two sets of paladin armor strewn in the corner of the room, left to be put away later.

"I can't believe you found this game, Pidge!" Matt cried out moving his body with his controller.

"Lance actually helped me get it while we were at the Space Mall." She punched forward as Matt killed a monster, knocking the popcorn bowl over entirely. “We waded through a fountain trying to find enough GAC.”

“If you’re going to tell that story, at least tell it right.” Lance stepped into the room and the door slid shut behind him. He set his helmet down and walked around to see the screen. “How I jumped out of the fountain and caught the last piece we needed in midair.”

Matt paused the game and looked up at Lance. "Thanks for taking care of Pidge while I was away, though she's proved herself capable of taking care of herself." He laughed some. “She nearly kicked my ass when she found me.” He laughed more before Pidge elbowed him in the side.

“Nearly? I DID kick your ass.” She reached over and stole the controller from Matt and unpaused the game.

“I’m glad Pidge has you as a friend.” Matt leaned back on the couch and stretched.

"Lance is a great friend like that, always helping us out." Hunk chimed in. “There was this one time, at the Garrison where-“ Lance cut him off.

"You're nicer than me Hunk, always cooking up grub and putting others before yourself. Like for Shay and her family on the Balmera." Lance returned Hunks smile and laughed some at his blush at the mention of Shay's name.

“Hunk’s got a girlfriend,” A grin formed on Pidge’s face as Hunk’s face flushed entirely red.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” he stuttered out. He rubbed the back of his neck and diverted his gaze from the group. “Just a really good friend, who also happens to be a girl, and really cute and I really miss seeing her…”

“A girlfriend,” Pidge teased.

Lance patted Hunk on the head. “I’m sure you’ll see her again before you know it, buddy.” He gave his friend a reassuring smile and headed for the door. "I think I'm going to check on Keith before I change,” He paused when the group gave him a look. “Just to tell him how awesome of a team we are and that he’s missing out on a lot."

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a quick glance and Matt got out of his seat.

"There's something you need to know."

Keith ducked from the sword the gladiator wielded. He slashed back but it managed to move out of the way. Keith prepared to block as the gladiator went in for another strike, but its head was shot off and the gladiator disappeared. Keith looked over to see a stressed out Lance standing in the doorway with his Bayard drawn.

Lance stepped into the training deck, "End simulation." He stood in place, Bayard pointed towards Keith.

"Lance what is going on? I was training." Keith's voice wavered on confusion and frustration. The events of earlier still weighing heavy on him and training with the gladiator was helping, some. Lance ignored his question and shot at Keith, who dodged to the side, watching some pieces of his hair drop the ground.

"What the hell, Lance?" Keith's frustration grew as he dodged another shot. He ran forward and slashed at the blue paladin. Lance sidestepped and shot again, landing on the shoulder piece of Keith's Blade of Marmora armor, scorching it.

A growl escaped the red paladin's throat as he slashed again, nearly missing the top of Lance's head as he dropped to a knee and aimed. Keith, however, was ready and kicked the blue paladin in the chest, sending him onto his back. Keith brought his bade down, but it was stopped by Lance's Bayard.

"Why are you attacking me?"

"Because you tried to kill yourself!" Lance brought his leg up and rolled himself and Keith over, straddling the red paladin and pointing his Bayard in his face.

"I was trying to save everyone!" Keith grabbed his old Bayard and yanked Lance off of him, sending the blue paladin rolling on the floor. He hopped up with his blade tight in his grip when a scorching heat knocked it from his hand and across the floor. Keith looked over to see Lance lying on his stomach, Bayard pointed at him.

"What if you didn't succeed?"

"What if I did?" Keith dashed forward and, to Lance's surprise, jumped over him, reached around and grabbed the Bayard, pulling it back against the blue paladin's neck.

"We would have lost a friend," Lance choked out. He butted his head backwards and into Keith's face. The red paladin felt warm blood ooze from his nose, but he didn't loosen his grip.

"But Voltron would still be around. I was willing to sacrifice myself for the greater cause."

"That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Did you really think your tiny galra fighter could break through that particle barrier? That your life was worth sacrificing before anyone else died?" Lance hunched and threw Keith on the floor in front of him. He kicked the Bayard out of the red paladin's reach. "Why are you being so reckless?"

Keith wiped his arm across his nose and stood to face Lance. "Why do you care? I thought we were rivals."

"Because you're our friend, you're MY friend. You're part of our family. We're all in this war together. We need to stand strong, and losing one of us is like... like losing a vital part of who we are." Lance turned and walked over to his Bayard. Keith got ready to fight, but the blue paladin picked up the weapon and walked out of the training deck, leaving him alone.

Lance dropped on his bed and looked around his empty room. It seemed so much bigger now that the Mercury Gameflux II and everything it was attached to were no longer taking up space.

He removed the chest piece of his armor when he heard a knock on his door. Thinking it might've been Hunk, he called for them to come in. When the door slid open, Keith stepped in, his blade tucked neatly on his lower back.

"What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk, and not be fighting when we do. Why so hostile all of a sudden?" Keith walked over and stood closer to Lance, letting the door slide shut behind him.

"I'm fine, nothing is wrong." He tried to force a smile, but this time his muscles wouldn’t work for him.

"You're obviously not fine. You seem very unlike yourself. Maybe you should go talk to Shiro-"

"Shiro is part of the problem." Lance cupped his mouth and looked wide eyed to Keith. The red paladin's eyebrow twitched, but he shook it off.

"If you're concerned about the team, you should talk to him because he's the leader."

"I want to talk to you... because I think you'd understand better." Lance looked down at his hands. "But if you really think I should talk to Shiro..."

Keith sighed and plopped on the bed next to Lance. "Alright, spill." Since when did he become the one Lance talked to?

The blue paladin paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts together. Keith sat patiently, feeling tension rise.

“First, I’d like to ask you again why you decided to try and kill yourself.” Lance’s gaze was stuck to his hands resting in his lap.

Keith was taken back, but he gathered his thoughts and let out a deep sigh. “There was a bomb, the coalition was hanging on a thread, and nothing could get through that barrier. I had to try something. The life of one verses the life of many.”

A sigh escaped the blue paladin and his forehead creased some. “We both know your ship was too small to do any significant damage.”

Keith was silent. Lance was right about that. But did he truly know why he even attempted it? He knew then his ship was too small. Lance knows the ship was too small. A little thought creeped its way into Keith’s mind, something that he didn’t realize until he actually thought about it.

“I didn’t want to see or hear anyone die before me. I didn’t want to be alone again.”

Lance held his breath for a moment. The sincerity in Keith’s voice was so real, something he heard once before.

He didn’t realize how much time passed since Keith had answered, and was pulled out by the red paladin’s voice. “Hey, say something. I just gave you an answer that even I didn’t know.”

“Sorry,” Lance muttered, “I kind of spaced out.”

“You are in outer space.”

A joke? Did Keith just make a joke? Lance looked up to see the red paladin giving him a soft smile.

“Right,” a small smile showed up on Lance’s own face. “Look, I’m sorry you, had the thought of losing everyone. But as long as we stick together, no one will be alone. We are the paladins of Voltron, and even though you’re training with the blade, you’re still one of us.”

Keith nodded and silence filled the room again. Lance watched his eyes as they soaked in what he said. “Yeah, I guess so.” He made eye contact with the blue paladin. “What else do you want to talk about?”

Respecting Keith wanting to change the subject, Lance thought about how to word his next concern.

“You need to come back and fly the Black Lion.”

“Shiro’s the pilot of the Black Lion. I’ll never be as good as him.”

“No.” Lance raised his voice a little louder than intended, startling Keith. “You’re better than him. At least, you are better than the current Shiro. Keith…” Lance tried to clutch the fabric of his pants, only to feel his fingers slide along his armor. “I don’t think he’s our Shiro.”

Silence again.

This time Lance was too afraid to look at Keith. He knew how the red paladin felt about the Garrison pilot. He didn’t understand their relationship, but he knew there was something there. And here he was, saying the ‘Shiro’ that Keith worked so hard to find, wasn’t the real Shiro. What had he done?

“I thought I was the only one,” Keith muttered out, barely audible. Lance looked up to see Keith diverting his attention to Pidge’s headphones sitting next to Lance’s pillow. “I just thought, maybe I had higher expectations and forgot how he really was. I was so determined, so, happy that I found him that I overlooked things that weren’t right.”

“Keith…”

“But then he was able to fly Black. I don’t think she’d let him pilot her if he wasn’t the real Shiro. He’s just a little hardened by this war. So these minor things I’m noticing, that I guess you noticed too. They’re nothing.”

“Keith.” Lance’s voice was stern. “When you took Shiro’s spot as the pilot of Black, which is what he wanted anyways, you became our leader. You filled his shoes.”

“I can’t replace Shiro.”

“You did better, especially now. Shiro doesn’t listen to us. He does what he thinks is right. You noticed it when he was directing us from the castle, remember? I could tell you didn’t like it.”

“That doesn’t count. I’m not meant to be a leader and he was directing me.” Keith jumped when Lance stood up and turned to face him.

“It wasn’t his job to direct you. You were doing what you thought was best, and to be honest, I agreed with what you were trying to do. Now that Lotor is here. On the ship. Where we keep the lions.” Lance began to pace. “That bomb? When those pillars came out of the ground, I wanted to leave. You know that gut feeling. Yeah, I had that. But he didn’t listen. And we got trapped there.” His pacing picked up. “And don’t say ‘if you didn’t get trapped you wouldn’t have known it was a bomb’ yeah we would’ve figured it out. At least Pidge would’ve. She’s good at that stuff.” Lance stopped when he ran into Keith, who gripped his hands and held them still.

“If you clench your hands too much they might cramp, and that’s no good for a sharpshooter.” Keith stepped back from Lance some, but continued to hold his hands still. “You don’t know that for sure. I mean, even if you escaped, and the bomb did explode, half, if not all the coalition would’ve been destroyed.” He took a breath. “You can never be certain of anything in war. You need to calm down.”

Lance pulled his hands back and let them drop to his sides. He took a deep breath. “Keith, I need to know what you think. What if he’s not our Shiro?”

The red paladin diverted his eyes. “I think, it’s just stress that’s causing him to act a little different.”

With a nod, the blue paladin sat back down on his bed. “Thank you, for coming to talk to me. I feel better about the things that were on my mind.” He threw on a smile and looked at Keith.

The red paladin nodded and moved towards the door. “I guess if you need to talk again, I’ll be here for a couple days until there’s a new plan.” The door slid open, and Keith stepped out. Once the door closed, Lance leaned back on his bed and stared at the white ceiling.

“I think I know what I have to do.”

End Part 1

Hey guys! Sorry it’s a week late! I wrote some extra to Part 1 to make up for it. (It kinda got a little out of hand XD)

The inspirational song for this is Waking Lions by Pop Evil

The other two songs were mentioned in an earlier post, here.

#VLD #Klance #Pop Evil #This is no where near done #Carried away #Fanfic

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kacxa-fan · 5 years

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Kacxa

My opinions on how they would get together.

1) Working together at the BOM helped them to finally have a chance to talk; At first as work requirements, which gradually escalated to small chat initiated by Keith.

2) They soon enough become good friends, and Zethrid and Ezor always teased Acxa behind his back. Acxa really doesn't do anything but give them her ol' unimpressed glare. She actually feels butterflies form in her stomach from the thought, though she isn't aware of her true feelings just yet.

3) Being the loyal hard worker she is, Keith requested Acxa to move up rank to work as one of his most entrusted.

4) Seeing as they are now able to spend more time together, both like to invite each other over for lunch during their break. Together they eat a meal while having a calm chat about work or small personal stories. They also enjoy a jog around the location they're in or something.

5) Keith usually tries to get her to smile and open up more to stuff Veronica and the MFE gang hasn't already, or at least show her more of it. Examples would be his childhood neighborhood and the shops he often visited; Bookstore/Comic shop, library, diner, local park, and anyplace quiet.

6) Keith also pushes her to get to know the (ex)paladins better. Acxa takes a liking towards Hunk, and they too become buddies.

7) Hunk and Lance notice how much they spend time together, and how lonesome Keith can be, especially now that he's growing older into his 20s. So they both, along with Pidge, give subtle mentions to him about their current relationship, hoping to encourage him to do something more. Keith isn't totally dumb, but chooses not to do anything atm. Frustrated, his friends gave up on helping him out, but still kinda push him around.

8) Same goes for Acxa and her close friends, but she is more confused at their hinting. She doesn't understand their winking and weird talk whenever Keith enters the room.

9) Keith does eventually realize and accept his feelings for her, and awkwardly tries to ask her out, but it never really works since Acxa assumes it as a normal thing between them. It's still something for Keith though. He's working himself up step by step.

10) Acxa too comes to her senses. Maybe even before Keith does? She takes note of his change in behavior, seeing how he's more frantic and quiet whenever it's just them alone for awhile, or whenever they get too close.

11) At one time she kinda "freaks out" when she sees him turn so red. Out of curiosity, worry, and amazement she just stares at him, which makes it worse for him that his hands begin to sweat and he can't talk or make eye contact anymore. She unconsciously traces the tips of her fingers lightly onto his hot cheeks and asks if he's okay or how he's capable of doing that. Keith could only croak out a few words like "I don't know?" or "I uh- yes".

12) Because Acxa is known to smile directly at him, she sometimes snorts or goes into short bursts of laughter whenever he does something amusing intentionally or not. His heart thumps louder whenever she does.

When does the other get asked out? Up to you at this point. I headcanon Acxa to make the first move, or finish his attempt to ask her out when he stuttered and flunked in his 137th attempt.

#keith #acxa #kacxa #vld ships #vld headcanons #rarepair

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serenephenix · 7 years

Text

Puking Rainbows

Do I know self-restraint? Nooooooooooooooooo…

based on this prompt

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Puking Rainbows

[Fandom]:Voltron: Legendary Defender

[Rating]: Teen Audience/ Gen

[Genre]: Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Friendship, Team as Family

[Word count]: 4.700

[Warning]: illness, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, poisoning (metal)

[Status]: oneshot/ completed

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Lance spit out the tar-black sludge, retching to no avail when he still felt some of it slide down his throat. He hacked and spit but the vile taste of it burned on his tongue and settled heavily in his stomach.

He quickly gave up, deciding it was less urgent than getting Keith out of Red. Out of the lake he had crashed in after that Ion canon hit him point on, the Lion’s eyes becoming dull and grey as she shut down and hurtled down towards the planet below.

He had followed, steering the pod to the best of his abilities but the hard reality was that these stupid machines were not built for space battles, were not built to withstand the fire of five fighters, were not meant to work on only one fully functional engine.

Even now, Lance was kind of is surprised that he managed to crash the pod in such a manner that he did not end up as bloodied scrap metal.

He readjusted his helmet, fumbling with the flips coated with slimy liquid and sealing the damn thing shut. It should have been the first thing to do upon wedging through the jammed pod doors but his mind had been elsewhere.

The sound emitting from under his foot was absolutely disgusting, a sloshing and sucking that made him appreciate his armor that let nothing through. It was hard even lifting his feet and did not become better when he was submerged to his waist.

“Eeeewww. This stinks.” His finger pressed onto the button for the private comms. “Keith, buddy, you in there?”

As if his words had summoned him, the hatch at the top of Red’s cockpit opened but before he could come up with any kind of joke, he watched with mounting horror as Keith’s whole frame shuddered before going slack and lastly came tumbling down to land on the small lake’s surface with a splash.

From where Lance stood it was hard to tell if he was moving, or even breathing.

“Keith!”

He struggled harder against the heavy liquid, hurrying over to his team mate.

Keith snatched his hand the moment their fingers brushed and used Lance to heave himself up, groaning and collapsing against him. He had never seen Keith’s face this contorted in pain.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” his own voice was shrill with worry as Keith spasmed violently in his grip.

“Cut up my leg.” Keith hissed, voice strained. His eyes screwed shut for a moment, his heavy breaths sounding so much louder and more alarming through his mic. After a few seconds he seemed to have grounded himself, making a concentrated effort to get his arm over Lance’s offered shoulders.

Lance adjusted his grip around Keith’s wrist and torso when he started to slip. He cast his friend a worried look, already setting a slow pace to get to the shore up ahead.

“How the hell did you manage that?”

Because there really was nothing in their cockpits that could slice open muscle. Unless the blast had been more damaging than he had initially thought, and maybe dislodged something from the console. It made a spike of worry lance through him at the thought that one of the Lions was this badly damaged.

“No, my blade.” Keith admitted, not looking Lance in the eye.

He felt like he had to shout in outrage on their leader’s behalf.

“The hell! You stored it inside the suit again, didn’t you!”

He was there when Shiro had held the lecture. He firmly agreed as well.

“So what!” Keith shot back heatedly, but still refused to meet Lance’s eyes “Doesn’t matter. Too late now anyway.”

“Yeah.”

The wound was just as bad as Lance had feared: a long, deep, and painful-looking gash that went down the length of Keith’s right calf. The amount of blood soaking the suit and Lance’s hand when he pressed it to the wound was distressing and made worse by Keith’s hiss at the light, inspecting touches.

“Okay,” Lance took a deep breath to hold onto whatever calm he could muster “I will have to bandage this.”

Keith, doubled over and sitting on a rock, only remained hunched over. He had gone worryingly pale in the relatively short amount of time it had taken them to get onto dry land. If Lance had to guess, he’d say he was going into shock.

He weighed his options, trying to contact the team but as he had expected there was no response incoming. Just loud static greeting his ear.

Coran had mentioned something of the likes happening – the atmosphere of the planet was a little crazy like that. The overhung sky revealed nothing of the battle probably raging just above, clouds too thick and dark for even the lasers to be visible.

He hoped the others were okay.

His eyes found the prone form of the lion again before zeroing in on Keith.

It was a shitty option but the only one they had.

With purposeful strides he went and picked up a sturdy looking branch, returning to Keith’s side immediately, and started ripping at the sleeve of his suit.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Lance did not allow Keith to distract him as he unclasped the protective pads and shells of the Paladin suit.

“Can you activate your bayard?”

He looked back at his team mate when the latter failed to respond, only to be met with complete puzzlement.

“Your bayard. I need it.” He insisted, getting frustrated when Keith still failed to answer.

Slowly the young man’s hand began to hover over the indicator lights of his left thigh, the sword instantly materializing in his hand.

By now, Lance had managed to wiggle his arm out of the sleeve, the appendage pressed into his side uncomfortably as he knelt down next to the black haired teen.

Keith only stared at him.

“Okay, now cut it off.” He wiggled his shoulder, the sleeve dangling and swinging from the motion.

He could watch Keith’s expression growing more dubious by the second.

“What?”

“To staunch the bleeding!” he finally bit out, frustrated the beginnings of a headache not helping in keeping his temper in check “You’ll need to make sure that blood stays where it’s supposed to be!”

“Okay, fine!” Keith’s own voice was colored with frustration as he positioned himself, taking his other hand to hold out the fabric before he swung down the blade. There was not even a sound of fabric tearing and Lance suddenly realized how damn sharp that blade must be.

He’d pass Shiro a memo that he was not going to train with Keith if that sword was involved. Once they got back that is.

He lost no time in winding the sleeve around Keith’s leg, knotting it up and inserting the stick he had collected earlier. He looked up at Keith.

“Sorry, this might hurt.” and he swiftly rotated the twig, the cloth twisting up and cutting into the flesh just above the gash.

Lance expected the shout of surprise and pain, and was ready to swat away the hand once it came.

“What the fuck are you doing!”

Keith was breathing harshly through his nose, groaning as Lance twisted one last time. He did not let go of the twig for a while longer, waiting until Keith had rode out his wave of pain.

“Listen” he said and made sure Keith was looking straight at him “I’ll will go back to Red and get the medical kit. You will stay here and keep this “his eyes flitted to his little construction “tight. I’ll kick your ass if you die from blood loss.”

Keith breathed in through his nose again, deep and long, before nodding and taking over. The prominent shake in his hand had Lance all the more worried.

He stood up and was not prepared for the sudden vertigo that had him stumbling a few steps.

“Woah, you okay?”

Lance nodded, copying Keith by breathing through his nose, willing away the darkness crawling in on him at the corners of his eyes.

“Just peachy. Just got up too fast.”

That had to be it. Nothing too serious probably.

He was glad his boosters still worked. He was glad he found the emergency kit. He was relieved to find the knife but the blood coating it had made Lance swallow down a sudden lump in his throat.

He also was glad that the coms were working on ground, allowing him to talk to Keith the whole time he was out of sight even if what he got in response were just grunts and groans of affirmation. But at least he still knew the Red Paladin was still alive.

It was the only thing he could rejoice about, really, because any word other than ‘alive’ to describe Keith’s current state would be a huge stretch.

“You still with me, samurai?”

The tremor in his voice was making it almost impossible to keep up the light-hearted tone.

Keith gave a nod that Lance more felt than saw from where he was hanging off of him, limp and heavy and with his feet dragging so much by now that it made Lance stumble every few steps.

Ever since they had had to run from those awful scuttling lizard-monsters that had started appearing from all around the lakeside, Keith had been deteriorating. It made the panic that had been threatening Lance from the moment they had ended up on this planet to actually take ahold of his mind.

He had to keep a clear head though, if not for his own sake then for Keith’s.

Still, the trek and especially the short scuffle they had had when Keith had to be dragged away from the lake and his prone Lion had sapped more energy from both of them than Lance would have expected.

His suit must have been damaged at some point as well, because it was not regulating the temperature right. He could feel sweat slicking his neck and the remaining fabric of his suit getting soaked, sticking to him uncomfortably.

But it did not explain the headache which had taken permanent residence just between his eyes, nor the sudden stabs of pain coming from his stomach or the ache from pretty much every muscle.

Still, he soldiered on, complaining about the heat and the situation, trying hard to annoy his companion so that he might get something more substantial out of him than just grunts.

Yet Keith remained frighteningly impassive, dragging his feet, not looking up.

Lance took one look around, made sure the lizards were gone and settled Keith down at the base of a tree.

He could feel his own blood rush down to the sole of his feet.

Keith’s skin was so pale Lance could have mistaken him for a ghost from one of those creepy horror-movies.

He was quick to take off Keith’s helmet, his rival too weak or out of it to even fight back.

“Keith.”

He pressed his fingers to the teen’s pulse point, forcing himself to stay calm even when the ragged and fast breaths agitating his hand put his heart into overdrive with fear. He was not sure what he was expecting, couldn’t even remember how a normal pulse should feel like under his fingertips, put the frenzied hammering surely could not be good.

He wanted to keep calm and strong like Shiro did in these situations but he was pretty sure his own fear and helplessness was evident when his eyes met Keith’s half-lidded ones. Despite his state, he seemed lucid enough to understand the severity of the situation.

As they remained locked in this position for a few more seconds Keith suddenly jerked once as if hiccupping and then he was toppling to the side, throwing up.

Lance’s hands shot out to steady him, probably the only thing keeping him from face-planting into the disgusting puddle of sick mixed with mud.

“Keith, what’s going on?”

Was it the wound? Did it get infected despite Lance’s efforts to clean it out with that Altean antiseptic that stung like hell and smelled like some overstocked cosmetic store? Had Keith maybe hit his head during impact? Was it some bug?

He did not know and he could not rule any of these possibilities out until Keith stopped regurgitating his breakfast, so he could tell him what exactly it was that was wrong.

It took a few minutes, Keith sometimes stopping long enough to take breath before dry-heaving again, pained whimpers and croaks escaping him and Lance babbling nonsensical stuff and encouragements in an effort to calm both of them down.

When it was over, Keith was wrung out and Lance only just managed to adjust his grip to hold up the limp teen, maneuvering him to sit away from the stinking mess. There was no color left in his face. The fact that his glassy eyes could not focus, even less remain open, made Lance’s blood go cold.

He felt bad for the slap, echoing so loudly in this otherwise quiet forest, but panic was spurring Lance into action.

“Oh no, you stay awake. I am not going to explain to the team how you died of blood loss on my watch!”

He knew his voice was bordering on hysterical.

It had little to no effect on Keith though, whatever it was that was ailing him having progressed too far him to fight back against anymore.

Before he could decide on anything else to do, Keith folded in on himself one more time, arms winding around his midriff as he made a noise of utter pain and distress, completely caving in on himself.

“It hurts…” he whispered hoarsely as Lance shook him, asked what was happening to him.

But ultimately, Lance could only watch in horror as Keith’s eyes rolled back into his head.

His legs were shaking horribly, his shoulders and arms burning from the task of holding onto Keith’s complete dead-weight, making sure that the mullet did not topple off of him because Lance had stumbled over a damned branch.

He yelped as, again, one of Keith’s arms slid off his shoulder, his whole side following suite and unbalancing him.

Lance wanted to scream in frustration but he lacked the breath necessary for that task. All of his energy went into slinging that damn arm back where it should have stayed all the other dozen times.

His own panting was growing far too loud with every step he took, with every lift of limbs that got stuck in the giving and sticky ground.

He wanted to cry both from exhaustion and from the pain. Before, he had been able to push it back, ignore it and keep going. But it had mounted, steadily increasing and spreading. He felt like dying.

He ground to a halt when his mouth suddenly flooded with saliva, with taste as if he had swallowed pennies and he just had enough time and care to put Keith down on his uninjured side before stumbling a few feet away.

The landing was anything but graceful or gentle, his knees protesting as he jerked forward to empty himself just like Keith had done earlier. It was as if someone had punched him in the stomach.

The world spun as Lance landed on his side, remaining there as still as possible, hoping that it might help lessen the pain that still twisted his insides but it persisted, shifting and travelling in ways inside of him that had dread shooting through Lance’s heart.

“Oh God, please no…”

He remembered that one time he had gotten salmonella poisoning, remembered what it had felt like.

Remembered how he had barely made it out the bathroom during those days.

This felt exactly the same.

Frustration and exhaustion drove tears to his eyes, as he measured his breaths and waited.

“No, please, no. Now’s not the time.”

Whatever god was listening right now obviously did not care.

With speed he would not have dared himself capable of, Lance somehow managed to pick himself up and dive for the row of small trees and bushes, hands jerkily grabbing for the latches of his armor, trying to get out of the suit before it was too late.

He barely made it.

It was disgusting, and humiliating, and it hurt. What came out was nothing but liquid, burning and sharp.

As fast as it came on, it was over but it left him shaky and shuddering, leaning against one of the trees as he tried to pull himself together, tried hard to ignore all of the aches, long-persisting and new ones.

He sobbed as he tried putting the armor back on, inflamed skin punishing him for every movement.

When he had tapped into his last reserves, fully ready to go on, and emerged from behind the trees unsteadily, he had his bayard out the second he saw the greenish creatures squatting around Keith.

He ignored how the world tilted and swayed ominously as he tried to get a good foothold in the mud.

“Get away from him!”

The aliens raised their heads, and what Lance saw reminded him of blowflies back on Earth – if suddenly they were the size of ten-year-olds, wingless and sporting dirty-brown tunics.

Facetted eyes zeroed in on him, pincers of sorts clicking urgently but there was nothing aggressive about the way they held themselves; only caution and curiosity.

It could have been gut-instinct or simply overall weakness making him lower his arm but Lance wanted to believe that it was just him being trusting towards strangers in general.

Or maybe he was just that desperate for any potential help.

“Please,” he said, the almost whine it devolved into making him clear his throat “my team mate’s hurt. We’re part of Voltron.”

By now he had come to know that when associating himself with the warrior of legend there were potential three reactions he could expect, ranging from reverence to cautiousness to downright hostility.

Throwing the information out like this, without knowing anything about the inhabitants of this planet was a dangerous gamble, but one Lance was ready to take at this point.

More clicking, faster and more urgent. Lance wished he could pretend he knew what was going on.

They stopped talking amongst themselves, two of the four lifting up Keith who did not even stir although his wound had to be bothering him. The other two creatures approached Lance offering their help but Lance refused, if only because the size difference and his own pride wouldn’t allow it.

That did not stop one of the aliens to grab onto his hand, as though to make sure he did not lose his way. Which admittedly was a good idea maybe. Lance could barely walk in a straight line at this point.

“Lance!”

Lance was not prepared for the alarmed shout coming from Shiro as they entered what equated a city most probably, or a very large settlement at least.

The hug was more of a body-slam and lasted far too short for Lance to appreciate it before his leader withdrew, worry evident in his eyes.

“Are you alright? What happened? We tried to contact both of you for hours but got no response.”

The barrage of questions was dizzying.

Shiro’s grey eyes briefly searched the immediate area, his expression growing more alarmed.

“Where is Keith?”

Lance opened his mouth to reply when there came another shout from behind them, Lance glancing back over his shoulder to see Pidge and Hunk come running, their eyes on the prone form of the Red Paladin still being carried by the small aliens.

Lance stumbled as Shiro’s arm steered him back towards his teammates. The moment the man let go to take a look at Keith, Hunk came to envelop Lance in a painful hug that did not help the lingering nausea at all.

“Lance, buddy, are you okay?” Lance gets no chance to reply, Hunk simply hugging him tighter. “We were so worried! Please never do this ever again!”

Everything is too much too soon. Lance feels suffocated.

There is a commotion going on and soon enough Keith disappears into one of the houses, Pidge not far behind, holding a device in hand they only ever take out when they encounter an alien species that cannot communicate with them through speech.

Lance just lets Hunk keep him upright, the only thing keeping him standing to be honest.

“What happened to you two?”

Lance lets his head loll to the side, the visor of his helmet clacking against Hunk’s shoulder guard. He tiredly looks into his friend’s anxious face, giving a shrug.

“Red crashed into a lake and Keith stabbed himself in the leg with his dagger.”

Hunk’s face is the perfect representation of ‘fucking done’.

“Yep, I agree.”

Still, brown eyes search his face a moment later.

“Are you okay? You look awful.”

“I just want to be done and over with this mission.”

Hunk gives him a nod just as Shiro reaches them, ready to hear about what happened, getting about the same answers as Hunk. It seems to be enough right now.

“The healers are now taking care of Keith.”

The relief is palpable and the grateful smile on his face makes Lance proud and fuzzy, even if it is smothered by exhaustion.

“Do you think you can take us back to Red? I do not wish to leave any of the Lions unguarded when there still might be Galra around and especially not when they can’t put up a barrier.”

Lance wants to refuse. Wants to lie down and cry. Who cares if the others think of him as weak or bratty?

He’s done his part, someone let him rest please.

But the look on Keith’s face as he dragged him away from Red, the worry and the fear… his mind won’t allow him to stop thinking about it.

“Fine.”

It’s quiet and unenthusiastic but Shiro takes it at face value, probably understanding better than anyone where Lance is coming from.

“Thank you, Lance. I promise you’ll get to rest once we’re back at the Castle. You really did an amazing job out there.”

It draws the ghost of a smile out of him as he struggles to put one foot in front of the other.

They are inside Black and no matter how smoothly his leader is trying to fly, the vertigo won’t let itself be ignored. Or the crippling pain that has Lance slowly starting to slide down the wall.

Hunk is shaking him, a parody of what Lance did to Keith when he fainted and it’s about just as effective.

Without warning, the queasiness is back and Lance weakly pushes at Hunk to have him out of the splatter zone.

His best friend’s voice is shrill with panic and Lance can dimly guess why: vomit is not supposed to be red or dotted with black grains like coffee grounds.

He is thankful when he loses consciousness, the darkness a promise of no longer having to deal with the pain and the uncomfortable heat.

Whatever it is that’s weighing Lance down, it’s incredibly soft and silky. He likes the feeling of it, burying the bottom half of his face further into it, breathing in the crispy cleanness of freshly washed sheets and relaxes.

He stills when he tries to draw his hands to his chin, only to be met with resistance in the form of a hand loosely holding onto his.

His eyes are sticky and very uncooperative but he gets them to open anyway.

He blinks at the bright lights he associates with the Castle’s interior and let’s his gaze roam. He wonders how he ended up here because he knows that he definitely was not in the Castle last he remembered.

His vision is a little blurry but he does recognize Keith, Pidge and Hunk once he sees them, their torsos spread over the side of his bed, all of them sound asleep. He is also surprised to find that it is actually not Hunk holding onto him but his rival.

He stares at their linked hands and misses the moment his door hisses open to admit Shiro and Coran. The second they see him awake, Lance can feel the worry bleed out of them.

They approach quietly, making sure not to disturb the other Paladins.

Coran’s eyes are lined with dark circles – testament to the effort he must have put into nursing Lance back to health. They do not appreciate the man nearly enough for all the work he does for them.

“Good morning, Lance.” the greeting is hushed but cheerful, maybe a bit more for his own sake than anyone else’s. Lance still finds his lips twitching into a weak smile.

“Mornin’.” He only manages to mouth it but that already seems to be enough for both men.

Shiro’s smile is painful to look at with the obvious guilt making it look like a chore.

“Hey, kiddo. How you holding up?”

Lance closes his eyes a moment, trying to get a feeling for his body.

“Tired.”

He is surprised at how rough he sounds.

“Just tired?” Coran asks, his eyes scanning him as though he could detect any and all lies. Lance would not put it past his list of abilities.

“Mostly.”

“And no aches or pains?”

Lance gives a minute shake of his head, sinking deeper into his cushions. He can already feel himself drift off but is kept from sweet, sweet slumber by Shiro’s voice.

It’s the tone that gives him the push he needs to stay awake.

“Wha-?” he mumbles, not having caught onto what exactly it was that Shiro had said.

He notices how Coran is giving them privacy, having turned away and measuring some liquid into a cup. Shiro is looking directly at him, with the grimness of someone ready to take punishment and Lance finds that it does not suit him at all.

“I’m sorry I did not realize sooner that something was wrong with you.”

Lance raises an eyebrow questioningly and Shiro understands.

“The lake you fell into is actually one of the most poisonous water bodies in the area. There is a good amount of a metal in it that can be compared to arsenic. That’s what made Keith sick and you as well.”

Okay, that’s something Lance gets. What he does not get is the torn expression Shiro’s sporting, the nervous wringing of his hands and the way he is now starting to avoid his eyes.

It is very untypical of him.

“The Ijrantuans, the aliens that saved you, you know?” Lance gives a nod “They have an antidote that works fast under the right circumstances, when the poisoning has not yet had time to damage the inner organs.”

Ahhhhh… Lance suddenly remembers how he accidentally swallowed some of that gross water.

Shiro takes a moment longer to gather his thoughts and Lance sees Coran according him all the time he needs.

“You were very sick and it might take you a while longer to completely recover. I’m sorry, I should have made sure you were both alright instead of jumping to conclusions based on states of awareness.”

Lance thinks it’s the choice of words that gets him to snort and he has to fight hard against the urge to let out a laugh at Shiro’s completely incredulous look.

“It’s okay.” he finally soothes. There’s no way he could be angry at Shiro. Not when he possibly couldn’t have known.

It takes Shiro a while to recover but when he does, he gently ruffles Lance’s hair. Lance relishes in the sensation, something that reminds him so, so much of his family back home.

Coran is quick to reclaim his place, surprisingly nimble for his age, and lifts Lance’s head while bringing the cup he’s filled earlier Lance’s mouth.

“This is a remedy to help reduce the inflammation to your alimentary canal.” There is something apologetic and sheepish in his smile as he withdraws “I am afraid that it will still be a while until you can stomach anything but broth.”

Now, Lance can’t help the chuckle and it surprises him that still, the others are sleeping through this. He looks up at Coran through the narrowing slits of his drooping eyes.

“Lucky me, I guess.”

#vld #voltron #lance mcclain #hunk garrett #keith kogane #pidge gunderson #takashi shirogane #coran #completed #prompt #sickfic #whump

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