#also watching it again i’m realizing that hunk and lance were friends yeah but i think really pidge and hunk were besties

[cjtheghost-14]

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans - Pidge Gunderson x Reader

Requests: None (but please give me some)

Notes: This came to me while I was eating chocolate covered espresso beans at 3:42 am last night, why do you ask?

Summary:  Your the White Paladin on team Voltron, and you also happen to be dating the little gremlin piloting the Green Lion. Pidge Gunderson. Lately, you haven’t been able to have much alone time, what, with saving the Universe and all. The only downtime the two of you have is at night, and the castle has run out of coffee. Your body can’t handle it, and you pass out as soon as you get in bed with your girlfriend. Pidge, on the other hand, doesn’t need coffee to stay awake. It’s not like she has a choice, anyhow. She’s always up late working on upgrades for the castle. You’ve been upset about the lack of contact the two of you have been having lately, and mad at yourself for always falling asleep. What are you meant to do without coffee? Then you remember something you smuggled aboard when you left Earth.

Warnings: Some good old fluff, being sleep deprived, stress, caffeine over load,  swearing

(sorry this took so long, blame my hectic life!)

Is it 11:00 pm already? How could that be right? You check your watch again, your vision beginning to blur from exhaustion. You take a sharp breath in, being able to just make out the time. It was, in fact, 11:00 pm. You rub your eyes in an attempt to just simply wipe the sleepiness away. Today was an unusually long day for the whole team. Zarkon apparently didn't know the meaning of sleep since his attacks have been relentless. Just today the team saved two planets. Although afterwards, the castle had been so severely damaged that we spent the rest of the day trying to fix it. Coran only let you stop a few minutes ago. He could’ve kept you longer, if not for that fact that you were practically falling asleep while re adjusting the teludav. You didn’t know if your girlfriend, Pidge, was even going to be in her room but you drag your feet in it’s direction anyway. She was always the busiest when it came to castle repairs, leaving you alone with your thoughts. After leaving your family, maybe some quality time with your depressing brain wasn’t the best idea. You have never felt more alone. Loneliness was corrosive, eating away at your heart until it left only a shell of a human. It could arguably be the worst feeling someone could feel. And ever since you left earth to become a paladin, that very feeling has taken over your already fragile mind. You depended on Pidge to pull you through, but you’ve barely been able to see her lately. Now, of course, you had the rest of the team beside you. You loved cooking with Hunk, listening to Coran’s weird stories and Allura’s beautiful ones. You loved spending time with Lance, he was your best friend after all, and you grew up with Shiro and Keith. Shiro was like a Dad to you, as Keith was like your brother. You loved them all with your whole heart. But those bonds paled in comparison to your feelings for Pidge. Your heart ached thinking about her. All you wanted to do was hold her in your arms. The thought made you walk faster, rounding the corner and not hesitating to barrel into Pidge’s messy room. You stumble over a box of electronics, your eyes landing on Pidge sitting on her bed, fiddling with something glowing. Your face breaks into a huge grin as you see her sitting there, her face bathed in blue light, glasses askew on her nose, pictures of you and her stuck on the wall behind her.

“Pidge!” You exclaim, surprised that she was actually here.

Her head shoots up, the lazy smile you love making its way onto her face. “Y/N!”

You run over to her, jumping on the bad, grabbing her face and slamming your lips onto hers. She laughs, pulling away slightly to look at you. “As much as I loved that, Y/N, I have work I need to do.”

“But I haven't seen you in days!” You say, your hopes sinking like lead.

“I know, love, but I really can’t relax now. Coran needs this by tomorrow morning. Just give me a few minutes, I’m almost done.” She says, turning her attention back to whatever she was working on.

You sigh, laying down. You can feel all of the anxiety from the past month weighing on your chest, crushing you with no hope of escape. You had hoped to talk to Pidge about it, but she was too busy, yet again. It wasn’t her fault, of course. It was Zarkons. But it didn't matter, you just needed someone to talk to. You knew that wasn't going to happen tonight though. When Pidge says she only needs a few minutes, she means she needs a few hours. Yet you decide to try to stay awake anyway, her presence was enough to make you feel better. But before you get to have any say in the matter, sleep grabs you by its claws, dragging you under.

***

You peel your eyes open, only to be met by complete darkness. You blink once, twice, trying to understand what happened. Then you realize, you fell asleep. You sit up suddenly, slamming your hand down on the mattress.

“Quiznak!”

You bring your watch up to your face, squinting, reading with difficulty the numbers 5:33 AM. Not again! How did you fall asleep again? Every rare time Pidge is actually in her room when you are, you end up falling asleep before you can talk to her. In a rush of adrenaline you bolt out of bed, maneuvering through the dark and into the hallway. Your footsteps echo through the castle as you round a corner into Lance’s room. You power off his white noise machine with a slam of your hands as you shout, “Lance!”

He bolts up, his eye mask sliding off of his face as he cries out in alarm. “I remember our bonding moment!” His head whips over to you, eyes widening. “O-oh! Y/N, w-what are you doing here?” He asks, voice rising an octave in embarrassment.

“I fell asleep!” You shout, throwing your hands in the air as you plop down on the bed next to him.

“That's why you woke me up?” He yells in exasperation, laying back down. “Go back to bed you freaking maniac” He says, kicking you off the bed with his foot. “I need my beauty sleep.”

“Too late for that.” You say sarcastically, standing up and grabbing his pillow from under his head, hitting him. “Get up!”

He yells out, bolting up, grabbing the pillow out of your hands. “I will shoot you!”

“Noted. But Lance, I fell asleep again. Now who knows when I’m going to even see Pidge again. Weeks? Months?” You sigh, sitting back down on the bed, staring at your hands.

Lance’s expression softens at the tone of your voice, resting a hand on your shoulder. “I’m sorry Y/N, I know it's been tough. But don't we have coffee in the kitchen? I swear Hunk smuggled some in.”

“We’re out.” You say sadly, shaking your head. “I have no way to stay awake, bu-” Your eyes widen suddenly, an idea forming in your head. “Wait, Lance, you're a genius!”

“I know.” He says triumphantly, crossing his arms with a smug smile. “Wait, why am I a genius?”

You chuckle, getting up, beginning to walk out of the room as you explain your idea. “The coffee Hunk smuggled in might be gone, but I totally forgot about what I smuggled in. Chocolate covered espresso beans, my mom made them. God, it's perfect! Thanks for the idea Lance!”

“Anytime. And, oh, Y/N?” He calls out after you.

You stop before you reach the door, turning around. “Yeah?”

“About what I said… I absolutely do not remember Keith and I’s bonding moment that didn't even happen.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Keith you remember, he’ll be happy to hear.” You smirk, running out of the room.

“Y/N! I said I don't remember! Y/N come back!” Lance shouts, sticking his head out of the door. “Y/N!”

A Day Later

You skip into Pidge’s room, a new sense of energy engulfing you. To your delight, you find Pidge sitting on her bed.

“Hey, lovely.” You say, plopping down next to her.

“Hi, (Y/N)” She says, looking up momentarily from her project to kiss you on the cheek. “Sorry to do this again, but I’m gonna be busy for a while” She explains, frowning slightly, her nose scrunching up in the way that you adore.

“It's alright, I’ll be waiting.” You say, leaning back on the bed to watch her work. She smiles softly before turning her attention away. You watch her slim fingers for a moment, fiddling with another glowing object before you decide to pull out your small packet of chocolate covered espresso beans. Pidge stops for a moment, turning to look at you.

“Uh, whatcha got there?” She asks, peeking into the bag.

“Some chocolate covered espresso beans.” You say, smiling softly before popping one into your mouth.

“Oh.” She says, reaching a hand into the bag before stopping, looking up. “Can I have some?”

“Of course.”

She smiles brightly, taking a handful, popping a few in her mouth as well. “Ooh, these taste like the ones your mom makes. These will help me stay awake for this project, actually. Thanks love.”

“And these will also help me stay awake long enough to spend some time with you.” You say softly, your eyes drifting over her lips.

She smiles more, leaning forward and kissing you, sending an electric jolt through your body. This was just what you needed. You melt into the kiss, running your fingers through her soft hair. You were convinced this had to be what heaven felt like. And when you pull away, theres a lingering taste of chocolate covered espresso beans.

[petri808]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Come again? I didn’t catch that.”

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

“Me??”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[actress4him]

Bonus Whumptober Content Part 2

Original Whumptober fic here

Bonus Content Part 1 here

Find it all on AO3 here

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Thanks for all of the support on the last chapter! I appreciate each and every one of the likes and reblogs and follows I’ve gotten.

Tagging @outtacommission again because Keith would not have been resurrected from the dead without his bribery.

Here is chapter 3 of this fic... see you next week for the conclusion!

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Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Warnings: referenced amputation, blood mention, referenced broken bones, self-esteem issues, suicide ideation, death mention, nightmares, abandonment issues

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When he woke again, he was lying back down on the pillow, staring up at the blank white ceiling. For one, blissful moment, he didn’t remember the events leading up to him passing out again. But it all came crashing down on him an instant later, taking his breath away.

My leg.

My leg, my leg.

My arm, my face, my leg.

“Keith?” Shiro’s voice was quiet, tentative. Not like him. “Are you awake?”

He wanted to roll over on his side and ignore him. Close his eyes, maybe go back to sleep, pretend that the world and this nightmare didn’t exist for a little while longer. The only reason he refrained was because he wasn’t sure if his stupid, wrecked body could actually manage it.

“What did you do to me?” It was only a whisper, and as slurred as it was, he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was impossible to understand.

Shiro’s breath hitched audibly. If Keith had been looking at his face, he was sure he wouldn’t like the anguished expression that he would see there. But at that moment, he didn’t have the capacity to care.

“Do you want me to...explain...how it...happened?”

No. Yes. He didn’t know. He needed to know why him losing a leg had been the best option, but at the same time he wasn’t sure if he could handle hearing about it. In the end, he just lifted one shoulder - the one that actually listened and responded right away - in a shrug. 

Shiro shifted in his seat, leaning forward so just the tip of his white bangs were in Keith’s periphery. “I already told you that you...died. On that planet. So when we got back to the Castle, you dying again was a distinct possibility. We...it’s like Fallenta said. We had to get you into a pod, even though your...your left arm was broken, and your knees, especially, were a mess from where the console landed on them.”

He paused, rubbing his palms together. “We didn’t know what would happen. I was scared to death that some of those breaks wouldn’t be able to be fixed after the pod. I mean, we were headed to Tellima, but…” His head dropped. “We had no choice. That hole in your stomach...you were dying.”

Keith could almost imagine it - the frantic atmosphere in the infirmary, the blood everywhere, the desperate conversations escalating into shouts as they debated on what to do. He had no doubt that he really had been dying, that they had made the choice they thought was best. He just wasn’t sure if he agreed with that choice. 

“When you came out of the pod, once the stomach wound was healed enough for you to be stable, Fallenta started working on re-breaking the bones so that they could be set correctly. It was...awful.” The shudder was obvious in his voice. “I’m glad she was able to do it, of course, but I’m also glad that you were unconscious the whole time. Your arm was relatively easy. Your left knee...it took her hours. It was in so many tiny little pieces. And your right…”

Automatically Keith flinched at the reminder of what was no longer there. Of the scarred, chopped off stump that lay just underneath the blanket, and the way his leg just...ended. He could see the void where the rest of it should have been even now, if he were to look down. He was purposely avoiding it.

Shiro heaved a huge sigh. “Unfortunately, your right knee was shattered in a way that had been blocking the circulation in your lower leg the whole time. The tissue down there was...dead.” He paused again. “Keith, I’ve...trust me, I’ve gone ‘round and ‘round in my head ever since we...trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently. And...I don’t think there was. We did what we had to do to save your life. I’m just...I’m sorry that we couldn’t save your leg, too.”

His leg was gone. 

Would he ever be able to walk again? Could they find a prosthetic for him like Shiro had, that worked as well as the real thing? Even if they did, how long would it take him to get used to walking on it? Just walking, not even counting anything like running, jumping, fighting. 

Fighting was what he did. It was the one and only thing besides flying that he was good at. He was crap with a gun, he couldn’t sit up in a sniper’s nest like Lance. He needed to be able to move. If he couldn’t, even just for the time that it took to learn how with a new leg and an arm that only half worked...

They’d replace him. What good was a paladin who was crippled? Who couldn’t pull his weight? As soon as Red woke up and found out what happened to him she would realize that he was useless now. And the Princess, the rest of the team...they already knew it. They were probably already looking for a new Red Paladin. How long would it be until they dropped him off on Earth, or on some Coalition planet? Probably as soon as he was healed enough. They didn’t have time to keep taking care of an invalid, they had a universe to save.

They did. Not him. Not anymore.

“Should’ve left me there.”

There was dead silence for a moment.

“What?”

Keith tipped his head back further into the pillow, eyes roving over the featureless ceiling as if he’d see something new. “I tol’ you not to come. I tol’ you to leave me there. You didn’t listen.”

“And now you’re alive.”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Keith…”

His hands fisted in the blanket, jaw clenched in sudden fury. “Don’t ‘Keith’ me. Why, Shiro? Why am I alive? What is the point? You know what all this means.”

It meant he’d be alone. And he couldn’t...he couldn’t do alone. Not again. Not when he found a group of people that he actually cared about for the first time in so long. Not when he was just finally getting used to always having people around, always having someone to talk to or distract him from the thoughts that tried to consume him. Not when he barely survived it the first time. 

He’d rather be dead than alone.

Shiro sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “That life is gonna be hard for a while? That you’re gonna have to work harder than ever to get back to where you were? Yeah, Keith, I do know. I know more than anyone else.”

Oh.

Shiro must think he was so incredibly self-centered.

He was self-centered.

He should have thought about how acting like losing a leg was worse than dying would seem to the man who had lost an arm and kept going. But instead he was all caught up in how he was going to lose everything he had grown to love and rely on. Acting like the self-absorbed brat that everyone at the Garrison except Shiro had accused him of being.

“That means I also know how hard it is to accept,” Shiro was saying. “It’s going to take time to adjust. But you will, I promise, and I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.”

Yeah, right. Keith didn’t know if he was lying to make him feel better, or if he just hadn’t yet realized or accepted that Allura and the rest of the team wouldn’t want to keep him around.

“Just...please, Keith. Please don’t say that we should have let you die. You don’t know…” His voice caught. “I’ve spent these last weeks hoping, praying that you would live. Scared out of my mind every moment of every day that you wouldn’t.”

Keith finally forced himself to turn his head toward his brother and saw him brush the back of his wrist across his eyes. Just that movement was enough to make his heart drop to his stomach. Shiro didn’t cry. At least not where anyone could see him. 

Slowly, he slid his hand out across the bed, palm up. A peace offering. It took only a moment for Shiro to take it, squeezing it so hard he thought a few more bones might break.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. And he was. Not for thinking it, but for saying it. He didn’t want to cause any more pain for any of his friends. 

That’s why when it was time for him to go, he’d do it quietly. No fuss. Don’t let them see your fear or your pain - he had learned that long, long ago. He was good at it. 

Shiro gave him a shaky smile. “It’ll be alright, Keith. I promise.”

Swallowing down the words that sprang to his tongue, he gave a nod. “Okay.”

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The next morning Keith woke up to an empty room. In a way, it was a relief. They obviously didn’t see the need to watch over him and baby him twenty-four-seven anymore. But he was, for all intents and purposes, stuck. With no leg, he couldn’t just get up and leave the room whenever he wanted, head to the training room like he normally would in the morning. There’d be no training for him for a long time. 

Of course there was breakfast to think about, too, and he wasn’t sure whether to expect someone to bring it to him, or to bring him to it. Either way, he hated it. He had always hated being treated like he was helpless, and now it was even worse because he actually was helpless. 

He went ahead and made up his mind, though. No matter what their plan was, he had no desire to be carried through the Castle to the dining room where everyone would give him those looks of pity. Poor Keith. Can’t even walk by himself. It’s just too bad he can’t stay.

He was in the midst of pushing himself up off the pillows, trying to get his right side to cooperate long enough to get in an upright position he could balance in and trying to ignore the strange lightness of his leg, when the door opened and Pidge slipped in.

“Hey,” she said softly. Padding over, she perched carefully on the edge of the chair that first Hunk, then Shiro had occupied. 

Tucking his left leg up close to him - the knee creaking in protest at being used for the first time since healing - Keith cleared his throat. “Hi.” 

Silence fell, but it had never been awkward between the two. The introverted arms of Voltron. Pidge just gazed at him for a long moment, her eyes saying all the things he knew she would never actually be able to say with words. “It’s good to see you awake. I was really worried about you.” 

On the outside, she merely shoved her glasses back up into the bridge of her nose and sniffed. “You better not quiznakin’ ever do that again.”

Keith’s lips turned up at the corners for the first time since waking the day before. “Alright.” 

Besides Shiro, he thought he would miss Pidge the most of all. They got each other more than anyone else.

“So.” Straightening up, she whipped a tablet out of her hoodie pocket. “We’ve been working on a leg for you. The Tellimites have crazy good medical technology, so obviously we’re using their notes, but I’ve also been talking back and forth with the Olkari, because they’re, of course, crazy good with biological connections, and we’ve come up with a design that should communicate really well with your body and, essentially, work like the real thing.”

She launched into a detailed scientific explanation of how every inch of it worked, tapping and flicking through various diagrams that just looked like a plain prosthetic leg to him. He didn’t understand but a few words here and there, but he let her talk. This was one of her passions, and it was nice to let her be able to ramble about it for once without having to worry about being rushed. The way her face lit up was worth every second.

“So...what do you think?” Suddenly she sounded uncertain as she blinked up at him. “We definitely want your input on it. I mean, I suggested putting in a rocket booster, but Hunk pointed out that it would be difficult to control with only one. Lance wanted to add lasers that shot out anytime you stomped your foot, but that seemed pretty dangerous for like, running and stuff, so…”

It almost sounded like they expected him to still be fighting with this thing. Well, maybe he would. Eventually. After all, he wouldn’t feel right about just ignoring the existence of the war when the people he cared about were still out there fighting it, so he’d do his best to get back into shape. Maybe he could convince them to find a Coalition planet for him that had soldiers he could fight with someday.

It wouldn’t be the same as fighting with this team, his...his friends. But at least he wouldn’t be completely useless.

He met Pidge’s eyes and realized she was still waiting on an answer from him. Part of him wanted to keep his words to a minimum, not wanting her to hear his new speech impediment, but he swallowed his pride. “It, uh...whatever you guys come up with I’m sure will be great.” He actually hadn’t even been sure whether to expect them to work on it themselves, or put it off on the Tellimites or some other able species. It made sense, though, that Pidge and Hunk would want to jump on this opportunity to design something they had never gotten to do before. He forced a small smile. “But...yeah, let’s hold off on weaponizing it.”

Smirking, Pidge turned off the tablet and stuck it back in her pocket. “Alright, if you insist. Lance is gonna be super disappointed, though.”

“I’m sure.” He could hear the whining and complaining about how boring and unimaginative he was now. 

“So, I was supposed to ask you about breakfast…?”

Keith stared down at his hands. “Oh. Yeah. I don’...think I’m really ready to...try to move around yet, so…”

He was such a bad liar. But Pidge either didn’t notice or was being nice and pretending not to, merely nodding and standing. 

“Okay. I’ll tell Shiro, he’ll probably bring you a plate down here.”

“Thanks, Pidge.”

She turned back from the doorway and smiled softly at him. “No problem.”

.

.

The nightmares came that night.

And the next. And the next.

Snippets of things he didn’t remember during the day, and wouldn’t remember again when he woke. Alarms blaring. Lights flashing. A horrifying crunching sound, then crippling pain and a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

And then...nothing. No one came. No one heard him calling. He stayed there, alone and bleeding in the dark, until the pain became too much and he slipped away.

He woke with tears streaming down his cheeks and a scream on his lips that didn’t quite make it out into the still air of the infirmary, not knowing what he was even crying about other than the nauseating loneliness that weighed him down, pinning him to the bed. 

Forcing his right hand to be the one to clumsily scrub away the tears - because it was going to work, dang it - he gritted his teeth and pushed against the weight to flop over onto his side. 

Get over it. Get over it, get used to it, stop being such a baby. You’ve always known that this wouldn’t last. It’s a miracle they’ve stuck around for as long as they have. If you try to hang onto them they’ll just end up hating you before they leave. 

.

.

He got away with hiding in the infirmary for two days before Fallenta declared him well enough to be up and about, and Shiro and Allura showed up with the Altean version of crutches. They escorted him slowly down the halls of the Castle to the dining room, chatting amiably the whole way. Keith assumed it was meant to either distract him from his plight, or to keep themselves from staring and pitying.

“Hey, look who finally decided to join us!” Lance announced loudly as soon as he hobbled into the room. “It’s about time you were out of bed, Mullet-head.”

“What Lance means,” Hunk sighed, “is that it’s good to see you up, Keith.”

“That it is, Number Four!” Coran rushed to pull out his usual seat, and his smile was so bright Keith couldn’t even be mad about the special treatment. “You had us all worried for a while there, for sure!”

Swallowing, Keith fiddled with his spork, unsure whether he was supposed to respond. “Um...yeah. Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Keith.” Shiro smiled at him softly, knowingly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He just barely kept another ‘sorry’ from escaping. Instead he nodded, picked up his spork with his left hand, and changed the subject. “So, uh...wha’s been going on lately?”

That was all it took for everyone to launch into tales of short missions in the Lions, repairs on Red, and alliances with Tellima. Keith barely remembered to keep eating his goo as he watched all of the animated faces and gesturing hands with a small smile on his face. It was good to be back among his teammates. They were so unlike him in so many ways, it was no wonder that he had never really fit in with them. But he cared about them anyway. They might not feel the same way about him, but he was so glad that they had become a part of his life. 

And now they wouldn’t be anymore. Scowling down into his bowl where no one would notice, he poked at the green goo. How did I let myself get so attached? Before Shiro, it had been many, many years since he had let himself care about anyone this much. He should have known better by then. Letting himself come to consider any person or place home was just setting himself up for heartbreak.

As much as he loved spending this last bit of time with them, he almost wished they would stop acting so natural, as if they weren’t getting ready to kick him out any day now. No one mentioned a search for a new paladin. No one said whether they were headed to Earth, or some other planet. 

He wasn’t going to be able to stand the suspense for many more days. They needed to just get it over with.

.

Later that night, after waking from another nightmare back in his own room, Keith stared at the bare walls, so lifeless compared to the other paladin’s rooms. Maybe I was always prepared for this moment, after all. Or maybe he had just been kicked out and left behind so many times that the ability to settle in was impossible for him no matter where he went. 

Struggling to sit up, he groped for the crutches and pulled himself to his feet. He wasn’t going to get back to sleep anytime soon, and no one had expressly forbidden him from venturing out on his own - not that it would have stopped him even if they had.

It took far too long to make it down the four hallways between his room and Red’s hangar. Walking with crutches used a whole new set of muscles that he wasn’t used to accessing, and trying to force his right side to carry that much weight was exhausting. He had to stop and lean against the wall, panting for breath, several times along the way. 

But he made it, eventually. He paused once more outside the door, debating whether or not he was actually ready to see the damage done to Red, before he sucked it up and punched the scanner.

He wasn’t ready. 

The great mechanical beast was lying on her side, a position that somehow managed to make her look vulnerable despite her hulking size. Her legs were splayed awkwardly as if she had just been dropped there. She probably had.

The worst part, though, was that her face was nearly unrecognizable. What had once been her muzzle was completely smashed in, there were spiderweb cracks across one of her dull grey eyes, and the other was missing altogether. 

Actually, he took that back. The worst part was the cold and the silence. 

No purr in his head to greet him. No eyes lighting up in recognition of her Paladin. No warmth filling up his chest and spreading out to his fingers and toes. With Red, there was always some kind of heat. Now, though, a shiver shook his body.

Clenching his jaw, Keith forced himself a few steps closer, until he could reach out, balancing precariously, and lay a hand against her warped, dented nose. It was cold, too. 

Suddenly tears sprang to his eyes for the first time since his panic attack a couple of days before. “‘m sorry, Red.” He stroked his hand over the metal, feeling all of the bumps that shouldn’t have been there. “I’m sorry this happened to you. You didn’t deserve it. You...you’ve always protected me, and…”

Tipping his head back, he took in the mess of a cockpit again, and this time he saw flashes of his nightmare. Something sharp pinning him to the chair. Blood dripping onto the floor.

One tear escaped, sliding rapidly down to his chin. “I don’t even know how I survived this. But if either of us deserved to survive, it’s you. Please, Red...if you can hear me at all...please don’t give up. I know I...I can’t fly you anymore, but…”

It hit him then, the brutal truth of that statement. He’d never fly her again. He might never fly anything again. He’d known it ever since finding out what had happened to him, but now it stabbed him through the heart, how much he was going to miss this semi-sentient alien ship. 

Before he knew it, he was falling none-too-gracefully to the floor, one hand planted in front of him while the other remained on her snout, crutches clattering loudly to the side. The tears came in earnest, then. “Red...Red I lost my leg. I...I can’t fight anymore, I can’t fly…I’m useless.”

He’d told her that before. That time, though, she had reassured him that no, he was her Paladin, he was a defender of the universe, not useless. Never useless.

But now there was no one to reassure him. Even if she had been able, Red would know the truth. He wasn’t her Paladin anymore, he wasn’t a defender of the universe. He was useless.

Next

[corvus--rex]

Another one that's not truly abandoned, working title Code Violet. Post s.8 Omegaverse, Klance slowburn. Omega Lance has been put on medical leave by the Garrison after the war because of his PTSD, which really just translates to secondary sexism as he's the only Omega among the Paladins. But then Keith goes missing on a Blades mission and Shiro calls the team back together.

~*~*~

He could deal with torture. At least, that’s what Keith told himself, having never been through it personally. But he did know how to deal with pain. A result of too many fights and questionable decisions in his life. But the sensation that overwhelmed his senses wasn’t pain. Or maybe it was. He didn’t know precisely. All he knew at that moment was that he could actively feel every last one of his nerves. He could feel the normal everyday functioning of his body mixed with a racing heartbeat and hyperventilating lungs. And yet he felt oddly detached from it. It felt as though his Alpha was protecting his mind like a mother wolf with her threatened pup. It was a very strange sensation. It felt like it went on forever. He felt something in his body shift. Something new and wholly unfamiliar. And then the pain actually hit. It crept in slowly, radiating from his core until the blooming white-hot flames licked their way through all of his nerve endings. He might have screamed, but he could never be sure. And when the searing pain left, it didn’t go quickly. It smoldered like the embers of a bonfire, burning low in that deceptive way that made it unclear as to whether or not the charred remains were still alight. But Keith could feel it, the low, steady flame that curled its way through his fingertips and all the way to his toes. Neither mind nor body relaxed until the cool touch of unconsciousness wrapped him in its embrace. He was blissfully unaware of being lifted, carried, and finally left in a dark cell while his captors waited for him to wake.

~~*~~ 5 Movements (7 Weeks) Later ~~*~~

Lance was startled awake by his comm screaming for his attention on his nightstand. No one he knew would call at half past five in the morning. All the official evaluations he’d undergone concluded that yes, he had PTSD just like the rest of Team Voltron and everyone else who’d fought in the war, but that with his weekly therapy sessions, he was handling it well enough for active duty. He had the unpleasant suspicion that it had something to do with him being the only Omega on Team Voltron. It didn’t seem to matter, however, as he was kept on medical leave.

When he was woken at the barest hint of dawn’s asscrack, squinting at his comm’s screen, he was shocked to see Shiro on the other end of the call. He fumbled for the button, accidentally dropping the device on himself. He figured he must have hit it somewhere in his sleep and adrenalin-fueled struggle when Shiro’s sleep-deprived face popped up in the holographic projection.

“Shiro? What? What is it? What’s going on?” Lance asked, voice low and rough, his mind not yet fully engaged.

“How soon can you get to the Garrison?” Shiro answered, sounding more awake than he looked.

“Um, probably about an hour. Why? What’s happening?”

The face of the Atlas’ captain darkened. “Keith’s gone missing. He was supposed to check in one movement ago, no one’s heard from him and they can’t trace his comm. It’s the second one he’s missed. Acxa and Kolivan are here requesting a team from the Coalition.”

Lance was awake. He knew Keith was away on another mission, he’d heard it directly from the man himself. He knew Keith would be out of reach for a while. He knew he wouldn’t know if Keith was ok until the mission was over. But he also knew that Keith was expected to keep to the check-in schedule, sending a scrambled message to a secure communications outpost that would then be sent on to Acxa, who was leading the Blades for the duration of the mission. It was almost overly complicated, but the mission was one that required careful stealth. It was the only thing Keith had been allowed to say about it before disappearing for what was supposed to be an extended 3 phoeb mission.

Acxa made sure to keep Team Voltron informed when it came to the check-in schedule, letting them know that Keith was ok. He had made the first three check-ins, even if the team was kept in the dark as to the messages’ contents. Acxa knew that there was a possibility that he could miss a check-in, but as long as his comm was active and could still be traced, she would know that the mission was still going. If he missed more than one check-in, it would raise alarms. Shiro said that he’d missed one a movement ago, which meant that he should have checked in again and hadn’t. If Shiro was calling to say that Keith had missed the check-in, and not that the mission was confirmed to have gone wrong, well, Lance didn’t quite know what it meant, but it wasn’t going to stop him from finding out.

“I’ll be right there,” he said, fully awake and already half-dressed.

Shiro nodded and cut the call.

Forty-five minutes later, Lance was walking into the conference room. He was surprised to see that he was the first one there save for Shiro. Lance was the only one of the team who wasn’t either assigned to the Atlas or stationed at the Garrison. Given his leave status, he’d decided to stay home with his family. The Garrison knew where to find him if they wanted to.

Taking a seat in the middle of the table, Lance leaned forward, resting his arms on the metal surface. “Who else is coming to this?” he asked.

“Adam, Pidge, and Hunk, Acxa is bringing Kolivan, and against my wishes, the MFEs will be here as well. They don’t have the security clearance our team has. They were involved on the front lines, but they’re not us. And they know even less about the Blades. But Iverson ordered it, so they’re coming.”

“Kinda surprised I still have the clearance,” he muttered, even though he knew Shiro would hear him anyway.

“And you know that if I had any real say, you’d be on the Atlas with us. You’re an outstanding pilot, the best at small team tactics I’ve ever seen, and I know no one can iron sight a target like you can. We wouldn’t have made it through several of our missions with Voltron if it hadn’t been for you. I don’t know if you realize it, but we never would have won the war without you.”

Lance looked up at that. Shiro was watching him, the Alpha’s expression one of pride and affection. “How’s that? We did it as a team. I wasn’t any more or less important than anyone else.”

Shiro shook his head. “Not at the end. You’re right about that. It was a team effort. I meant before that. Back when we rescued Slav. We only had one chance at getting him out, and we almost didn’t. If you hadn’t made that shot, we never would have succeeded that day, and – as much as I hate to admit it – Slav’s input and genius went a very long way in helping us win. Without you, none of it would have happened.”

Shock and realization flashed across the Omega’s face. “I – I never thought about it like that. I just did what I had to. We needed him, and I just did it. I never put it together like that.” He stumbled through his words, understanding the weight of what he’d done hitting him. He started at Shiro’s hand on his shoulder.

“I hadn’t either until recently. But that wasn’t a conversation to be had over a call. And I want you to know from me that I have been fighting Administration over your forced medical leave. It isn’t Iverson who’s sidelining you, it’s the heads of the Medical Division. They’re the only ones who can overrule him. Your evaluations confirm what we already know – that you're fit for active duty. The shrinks know it, we know it, even Iverson knows it. I don’t know why the med admins won’t clear you, but I have an idea, and their thought process is wrong. Being an Omega has nothing to do with your capability as a Garrison officer. We will get this sorted out.”

Lance stood up in a rush, nearly knocking the chair over, and crushed his pack Alpha in a tight hug. “Thanks, Shiro,” he mumbled into the Alpha’s shoulder.

“Anytime. I mean it. You’re more than just your service record. You are still, and always will be, part of the pack. Part of our pack. You do know that, right?”

Lance huffed a laugh into Shiro’s shoulder. “That’s about the only part I haven’t questioned. I – I miss him, Shiro. I just want to get him back safe.”

Shiro pulled back, holding onto Lance’s shoulders. “We will. We’re not giving up, not even if I have to go after him myself.”

The door gave a soft hiss as it slid open and closed. Lance and Shiro snapped to see who was there.

“We interrupt something?” Pidge asked, Hunk standing beside her.

“Lance! You made it! Oh, man, I am so happy to see you!” Hunk practically yelled, rushing in to wrap his old friend in a crushing hug.

“Yeah, I made it. I'm happy to see you too, Hunk,” Lance said far more softly and returning the enthusiastic hug.

~*~*~*~

Links to the rest of the series:

1 | 2 | 3* | 4 | 5* | 6* | 7 | 8 | 9* | 10 | 11 | 12* | 13 | 14 | 15* | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19*

[raziroo]

Chapter Four | I Take A Liking To Lilac All Of A Sudden

Pairing: Lotor x Reader (There you go)

Genre: Angst? I don't knowww

Warnings: Mentions of cancer, mild swearing

Word Count: 1,676

Author’s Note: This is kind of a filler? I can't write long shit in one sitting, so. It's important to reader and lotor's relationship, tho.

‘Good luck. Come back alive, all of you, alright?’ I asked, my eyes roving over the three people standing before me – Matt, Pidge, and Shiro. ‘It’s, like, one of the simplest things you could do. You give Lotor, you get Mr. Holt. Simple. Very simple and easily doable. Right?’ My gaze dragged over all of them once more as I picked at my nails nervously. As much as I was aware of the fact that this trade wasn’t simple and easily doable, I knew that I would legitimately have a nervous breakdown if I didn’t spew lies through my teeth.

Shiro smiled at me lightly. ‘Of course. I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong. You guys take care too.’

‘If, however, anything happens,’ Allura chided, ‘the other lions will arrive as soon as possible.’

‘Yeah,’ Pidge said with a wry smirk, ‘so try not to pass out.’

‘Okay,’ I nodded my head rapidly, ‘yeah, okay, I – I can do that.’

‘Good. Well, we’ll get going then,’ Shiro announced, and turned around, the others following him.

Hopefully, all would go well.

. . . . .

You know what? Everything actually went relatively well. Yes, my hunch turned out to be correct and Zarkon chose to go through with the ‘I was lying all along! Bwahahaha!’ route and ended up getting himself killed at the hands of his son, but overall, I’d say it was a win-win, seeing that we got Pidge’s father back (thank God, who knows what havoc she’d wreak if we ended up not getting Sam back) and the evil maniacal tyrant who’d been ruling over the universe for ten thousand years died.

The one downside was that now there needed to be a new Emperor, because following Zarkon’s death, not only the Galra empire, but simultaneously the entire universe had gone into a state of chaos too. There was no doubt that underlings and generals would try to take over smaller parts of the empire, and once that happened, Voltron being able to do anything would be a stretch.

And, according to Lotor, a ceremony to crown the new emperor, the Kral Zera, would now be taking place. Once he said that, he really didn’t need to say more – it was obvious what his implications were. A new emperor was to be crowned, and if Voltron was to achieve peace, Lotor would have to go and secure the throne. It was a sensible thought to be had, no problem. The thing was, to reach the Kral Zera, which was taking place in two days, in itself was a decision to be taken with utmost thought. The Paladins just didn’t have enough time to decide.

On the one hand, Shiro and Lotor were adamant that the latter be crowned emperor; the other Paladins, however, were justifiably hesitant. I had been standing there listening to them going back and forth, not saying a word myself, like always.

To be honest, I just wanted to go sleep. For some reason, I’d been feeling overly anxious these past few days. White was still not responding to me, I was having regular dreams about the day I woke up here. It was always that one day, that first conversation I had with Shiro. It was as if my subconsciousness too wanted me to reach out to Shiro because there was clearly something weird going on with him.

My suspicions only solidified when I heard Shiro’s voice boom through the room. My head snapped up. Lance with a look of shock and the slightest bit of fear on his face, Shiro’s visage twisted with uncharacteristic anger.

‘Shiro. I think you should just relax a little.’ The man turned to me, brows pinched.

‘I am relaxed -’

‘No, I really think you aren’t… so, like… take it easy, yeah?’ I asked, jumping my eyebrows, arms still folded in front of me, maintaining a calm yet defensive posture. I could feel the entire room’s gazes on me. After all, I almost never spoke in such discussions, or any discussions, really, and indirectly opposing Shiro, of all people, was way too brave a thing for me to do.

Shiro looked at me with slight disbelief, a glint in his eye challenging me to speak up. ‘You want me to take it easy? Take it easy? The fate of the universe depends on this, taking it easy is really not an option right now. I’ve put my foot down – as the Leader of Voltron, I’ve taken this decision. You aren’t someone befitted to oppose me.’

Ok, wow. Everyone shared the same opinion apparently, as now the silence seemed piercing. Clicking my tongue, I tilted my head. ‘Well, maybe not as a Paladin, which I’m not, or a member of the coalition. But as a friend, Shiro, you’ve been acting strange. Everyone realises this. You realise this. … Maybe, I don’t know… maybe all this reflecting on you’ve been doing, maybe the role of leader is taking a toll on you? I, heh,’ I chuckle, ‘I really am not sure. But you’re not relaxed, and you’re not acting yourself.’

‘Could you please not tell me how to be a Paladin?’

‘While you all waste time squabbling, sinister forces are conspiring to fill the Galra power void. If I don’t return to claim the throne, there’s no telling who will.’

Does being royalty instantly make you a hundred times more dramatic? Sinister forces? Deadass?

I walked out.

. . . . .

Shiro went behind our back.

Yeah.

Acting like a complete bitch, he took Lotor to the Kral Zera, where, for your information, he could’ve been blown up. By Keith.

I wanted to deck Shiro. Instead, I visited White. I had hopes she’d respond to me, since I’d been brave and spoken my mind. I prayed on all the Gods and Deities above that my expectations became reality.

Yeah, they didn’t. She didn’t budge. The whole entire two goddamned hours I sat in front of White, she ignored me. Frustrated, I ended up punching her, resulting in bleeding knuckles. Lotor saw that, by the way. He seemed to always be keeping an eye on White, regardless of me being there or not, which I admit is a little strange, but I wasn’t judging. These aliens seemed to worship the Lions.

Lotor also invited us to the Galra headquarters, and lord oh my lord, was it fancy. Allura had gone off to do research with Lotor (I’d been about to make a joke about what “research” those two were really about to do, if you catch my drift, but then I saw Lance looking at the pair glumly, and thought better of it. I’d lightly punched Lance on the shoulder, and raised my eyebrows so as to say ‘They’re gorgeous aliens who could give Bella Hadid and Harry Styles a run for their money, it can’t be helped.’ He laughed.) I accompanied Hunk, Lance and Pidge in their shenanigans for a while, but ended up wandering around the place.

Space was beautiful. Even through a window, I wanted to just stare at it for as long as I could, enjoying a show more realistic than ever before. It was really similar to all the Marvel movies I’d watched; I felt a weird sense of pride at that realization. I remembered how I’d cried at the end of Infinity War, my friends clinging to me and bawling as well; how loud I’d squealed at an absolutely steamy piece of Kakashi fanart Cory had drawn; how happy I’d been when Sasha, my neighbour and childhood friend, had come out victorious after battling cancer for years.

I hadn’t realized when the tears had started slipping down my cheeks. I wiped at them, but they wouldn’t go. Sniffling and wiping so furiously my skin would get burned when I heard footsteps, I turned to see Lotor approaching me.

‘Hey -’ shit, my voice was so thick. Clearing my throat obnoxiously loud, I greeted him again. ‘Hey, uh… what… how’s yours and Allura’s research going?’

‘The research has been going quite smoothly.’

‘Hmm. Nice.’

Lotor was staring – no, correction - scrutinising me. I could feel it, his intense as hell eyes burning into the side of my face. I wasn’t going to give up, though. I stared at the window with as much concentration as he me.

He was the first to speak up. Ha.

‘You’re not of the Paladins.’

‘Really? I didn’t know, thanks,’ I still wasn’t looking at him.

‘Deepest apologies if I offended you -’

‘You didn’t, it’s okay.’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…If you wish to answer, why do you appear… distant, compared to the other Paladins? You say they are your friends, but there’s such scarce interaction… you seem acquaintances at best.’

‘… They are my friends. I like to think so, because, well… because I don’t have anyone to go back home to.’

‘Oh. My apologies, I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘You didn’t pry, chill. It’s not that my family’s dead or anything, it’s just that… no, well, my family is dead, but… like, they’ve been dead for around three hundred or so years…?’ I turned to Lotor, brows furrowed. He looked less confused than me.

‘Sorry, no, that’s – that’s shit explanation, um… you could say… I… I’ve lived past my time. I’m alive when I’m not supposed to be.’

I didn’t explicitly mention, as you can see, that I was a time traveller, because I wasn’t really one with that fact yet. I’d accepted it, yes, but that didn’t mean I was comfortable with it. It was still a foreign truth, something I didn’t take great joy in talking or thinking about.

When I turned to Lotor, I felt like he’d understood what he needed to already.

It was bizarre. A lilac alien was the last person I would expect to understand me so easily, but it was what it was.

[willadisastercry]

Sleep deprived Keith annoying the crap out of the other paladins before crashing

Tw: depiction of sleep deprivation, insomnia, needles.

Keith has trouble sleeping sometimes... but this is a new level for him. His teammates can’t remember the last time he looked well slept and neither can he. They also don’t remember him being this hyper or social with them, like literally ever.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shiro so annoyed,” Lance whispered over a crouched Pidge as they peered around the corner into the control room.

Keith was hovering around Shiro as he typed away on the panel in front of him, working out the strategy for their next mission.

“Well, if you really think about it, the Galra are kind of like space Russia, they have a lot of real estate, the people are really tall, and—hey, wait why wouldn’t we infiltrate the loading dock first? That’s the most reliable route because the lions won’t be far, we can just cloak them ya know, like all stealth? and if we go in where...”

“I think his mouth is twitching, watch. There it is, it did it again!” Pidge pointed out, her eyes wide in amazement.

The older boy’s mouth was indeed twitching, the corner pulling up like he wanted to say something as well as drop someone, but he refrained from both.

“I think I would’ve punted Keith across the room by now... do you think Shiro meditates, he must meditate, ya know? He’s always so calm and reasonable, always telling us that we have to breathe and whatever, no one can possibly be that zen without—“

But before Lance could finish his analysis on Shiro’s freak ability to be so zen, the basis of his argument shattered with an explosion from their team leader.

“I can’t even hear myself think, Keith!” Shiro started, a vein very visibly pumping away on his forehead as his face took on a dark flush.

“I have been watching the same surveillance loop for five minutes now beccause I can’t focus with you rambling in my ear!”

The red paladin’s face fell, his antsy pacing halted and his hands tapping his side like he was anticipating something. He took a breath. He hadn’t realized he’d started trembling.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—fuck,” Keith said before turning away, “I’ll leave you alone.”

Lance and Pidge nearly toppled over with how aggressively they flung themselves away from where they had been perched while they eavesdropped. Mostly out of curiosity at how Shiro would handle a manic-ly energetic Keith.

They could hear Shiro cursing under his breath, then ushering an apology for being so harsh but Keith likely didn’t hear it as he hightailed it out of there. He moved so quickly he didn’t even notice the pair as they stood planted in the center of the hallway failing to feign even the slightest of nonchalance.

Shiro ducked his head out to find that Keith had already disappeared and became wildly flustered when he found the very guilty-looking pair instead.

“Uhuh,” he cleared his throat, “do you guys know what’s going on with Keith? I didn’t mean to be such a dick, but he’s like next level tweaking out and I have no idea why...”

“Uh, we’re not sure either,” Pidge replied, “but he’s been like this all morning.”

“Yeah, he made Coran snap and crack a crystal in half earlier...”

“Oooo and Allura stained her dress when he wouldn’t shut up about how human mice carry infection and probably shouldn’t be near food and then she like flung her coffee...”

“And poor Hunk was trying to entertain his ramblings about the how hard it is to attain cinnamon in space and that it should be rationed and ended up burning a whole batch of snickerdoodles...”

“He was bouncing off the walls, it was weird” Pidge resolved. “And Keith never has that much energy.”

“Yeah, he’s been rambling, that’s my thing! The kid hardly says more than five words in one sentence and now he can’t shut up,” Lance added, scratching his head.

“Okay,” Shiro looked like he was running over in his head a million possibilities of what could be wrong, “will you two go check on him for me... and let him know I didn’t mean to yell at him?”

“Of course.”

“We’ll let you know if we figure it out,” Lance promised before they started after their friend.

They checked the common room first as it was the next room on their way and found only a grumpy Hunk scraping the singed bits off of the plate of cookies in front of him.

“D’you see Keith?” Pidge asked, surveying the sight before her.

“No,” he gruffed sadly, taking a bite of one of the cookies and breaking it off with a loud snap.

“Okay, keep an eye out, we think something’s wrong...” Lance looked around, “I know where he might’ve gone but we have to grab something first, let’s go.”

They took off at an urgent trot, once again more out of curiosity than concern because this just didn’t occur. Keith is a guy of few words, so when he speaks it’s usually sarcasm, not a rapid flurry of silly questions that seem more like the goofy blue paladin than the tempered red. This was weird for him. And they just wanted to know why.

But their curiosity changed quickly into fear as soon as they entered the hallway of the training room because they could hear the intense whir of the simulator working. From down the hall.

“Shit Keith,” Lance said activating their bayards they stopped to pick up on the way.

“He’s got it on the highest setting—not even Shiro can handle that intensity solo,” Pidge noted as they raced for the door.

“This kid’s got a death wish,” Lance deadpanned as he wrenched the doors of the training room open, only to be immediately met with Keith’s strangled scream as his head snapped against the floor with a sickening crack, the sentry that threw him across the room quickly closing the distance between them.

Lance ran forward and knelt down, slowly lining up shots and taking down the new sentries as soon as they regenerated while Pidge made her way to the kill switch.

By the time she got to the lever and tugged it all the way down Keith was dangling from his twisted arm and throat, shuddering gasps the only noise he was able to make in protest.

Lance had just taken out the second sentry cornering Keith with a head shot when every robot assailant powered down at once, the one choking Keith releasing his grip on his throat first, his arm pulling at an awkward angle as he fell before it was released. The pale boy let out a shrill gush before clamping his lips together tightly and pulling his slumped form up with the help of the wall.

“What the fuck was that, mullet?!”

He refused to make eye contact with his worried friends as he went to storm out like before, but this time he moved slowly, gingerly.

“I needed a good workout... to clear my head,” was all he managed. They could tell he didn’t want to let on that he was in pain, but the way he grimaced when his arm swung as he walked as well as the obvious bump protruding from his shoulder where no bone should be told them otherwise.

“Oh, that’s a load! That was not a good workout, that was a good ass-whooping! And I’m not entirely sure there’s anything left in your head to clear after the way it smacked the—“

“You’re hurt,” Pidge blurted. “The sentry dislocated your shoulder, I’m staring at the head of your right humerus and I shouldn’t be able to do that...”

“Oh... huh,” was all the mind he seemed willing to pay to his injury, his eyes bleary and wider than usual as he continued to walk away from them, but they persisted.

“We’re taking you to get that checked out by Coran. Right now,” Lance ordered.

“I’m good,” he assured, shouldering the door with his other arm.

Lance reached the door handle first and pulled on it, keeping Keith from going anywhere and spurring a low groan when his bad shoulder was jolted.

“Lance...”

He looked so tired.

He closed his eyes and continued to lean heavily into the hulking door of the training room. Under the bright artificial lights his skin looked greyer than it usually did, every bone in his face sickly accentuated and sharpened, the staple bags underneath his eyes hanging heavier than ever.

“Keith, you’re hurt and something else is obviously wrong so NO, we’re not letting you storm off to go pout to maintain your stup—“

“Shut up—“

Keith’s vision tunneled, his eyes fixed in a clearly unfocused haze as he stared at nothing.

“What?” Lance questioned, very caught off guard by the sudden interjection.

“I s-said shut u-up,” he whispered as he sucked in a shuddering breath.

The shrillness of Lance’s chastisement made his head swim and he blinked away the haze that came with the sudden levity.

“Hey, take it easy...”

It seemed the more he tried to control the tremor in his voice the worse his entire body seemed to shake.

He was fading; he could feel it.

The exhaustion had given way to anxiety as the adrenaline dripped dry allowing him to fully feel the pain in his shoulder as it pulsed angrily.

It was like the tide was washing out, the tumultuous waves of the storm that settled itself in his chest receding just before the next wave surged, and then he could feel everything he’d been ignoring.

Every individual bone seemed to ache with weariness and the pressure behind his tired eyes was so immense that it made him unsteady.

“Woah, what’s going on man?”

The floor suddenly seemed to shift beneath him, like he was walking on one of those moving conveyer belts in the airport that made your feet feel weird once you were back on solid ground.

“I think you should sit down,” Pidge urged, tugging worriedly at the hem of his shirt.

As much as his pride wanted him to protest he couldn’t seem to muster enough energy to even disagree let alone have a shred of cofidence that he could possibly get himself back to his room on his own.

They seemed to understand by his silence that he wouldn’t push away their help now and then he could feel firm hands on his good shoulder and back, guiding his trembling frame down to the floor where he came to rest his head on the knee that wasn’t bouncing.

“Where you at, mullet?”

The tinier hand had never left the middle of his back and rubbed soothing circles on the tense muscles beneath it.

“Can you tell us what you feel like right now?” Pidge asked before moving a hand to steady his restless leg.

He took a strained breath.

“D-dizzy... c-cold maybe, I-I don’t know why I can’t stop s-shaking.”

“That’s okay, don’t worry about that.”

“Here, this’ll help,” Lance added as he draped his jacket over Keith’s back, careful to not have it touch his injury.

“How’s your shoulder? Is anything else hurting?”

Keith thought about it for a solid minute, finding it sort of difficult to organize his thoughts and give Pidge an answer.

“Hurts a lot. S-so does my head... I have a headache—maybe... maybe a migraine I d-don’t know.”

“Is that what was bothering you before? The lights are pretty bright in here so that’s probably not helping... why don’t we start heading to the infirmary, before it gets worse?”

He nodded slowly against his knee and lifted his head up, his eyes still pressed together tightly. He pried one open to test his head but the swirling nausea and general agony that followed was answer enough.

“You don’t have to keep them open if it hurts.”

He hummed in acknowledgment and steeled himself as they took up his good arm and pulled him to his feet then waited for him to give the go ahead before making their way.

It was almost worse when his eyes were closed. The pounding in his head had only increased while they guided him, each step rattling his brain around so painfully that it almost distracted him from the instense heat in his shoulder.

He didn’t know why his head hurt so bad and why it was making his eyes so sensitive. He knew he’d hid it, but not hard enough to warrant this. He was also really tired, practically jumping out of his skin every few moments when he let his head tip forward slightly as if to nod off, which was entirely strange and alarming seeing as he was so drowsy he almost fell asleep while still walking.

He hadn’t noticed when they made it to the infirmary, only realizing when he was being pushed to sit down on something and a light was being shone across his now opened eyes.

“No! Oh-ouch,” he inhaled sharply when the light retreated and he was left seeing a blurred strip of bright white across his field of vision.

“I apologize, my boy, it had to be done. No concussion though! We have dimmed the lights for your comfort, the aversion is most peculiar given your injuries... “

He proded Keith’s shoulder blade and the inflamed area around it, earning a hiss when he tested the dexterity of the limb.

“The scanner detects significant ligament damage that will need to be corrected in a pod after I er... set the joint in its proper place. It will hurt for only a tick and I have several nerve blockers and muscle relaxers I can inject in the area to make the process less painful. Does that sound manageable to—“

But Coran didn’t get to hear Keith’s answer, the way his face greened and he clamped a hand over mouth was telling enough. He bit back a sob as he lurched forward, not enough time or notice for anyone to prepare before Keith was dry heaving, but they didn’t really need to worry because nothing but saliva came up.

“Were you at all ill before this today? This is the first time you’ve been sick to your stomach... when was the last time you ate?”

Silence only followed for a dobash before all three launched into different themes of admonition, but they all had the same anger to them. He knew they meant well, that they were just worried, but the bite to their words made his eyes sting like hell and he was seriously worried he wouldn’t be able to keep the tears at bay before Shiro was there telling them to be quiet.

He turned his head away and tried to breathe normally, but his chest was working up and his head throbbed pitifully and the movement made the burning in his shoulder deepen to where he had to hold his breath to keep from aggravating it. But Shiro’s warm, human hand was pulling his face towards his own, his eyes taking in Keith’s form and coming to several conclusions at once, the tension everywhere, the darkness under his eyes, the tightness in his jaw, the way his hands shook entwined about themselves...

“Keith,” his voice was so low and warm, he felt his chest pang at the gentleness in it. He closed his eyes, he knew what was coming next and he was both relieved and terrified for it.

“When was the last time you got a solid night’s sleep?”

He waited, even though they both already knew the answer and then it was when his hand moved to cup the top of his head that he finally broke. He didn’t need to speak for Shiro to know the answer.

Too long. It had been entirely too long since Keith could remember going to bed and waking up refreshed, each night only more frustrating than the last as he laid his head on his pillow and closed his eyes, knowing full well it wouldn’t work. Nothing did.

This week had been too much though. Running on empty on far too many missions followed by a dozen insomnia-induced late night training sessions trying to tire himself out in order to snag only a few hours of rest.

He’d just kept excerting himself and not ever properly recharging, but not on purpose, he physically couldn’t.

That part wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t help that, but he could let people know he was struggling and he had purposefully not alerted Shiro.

“Shit, Keith,” Shiro murmured with Keith’s forehead on his chest as he held back the sound of his crying, “you have to tell me when it gets bad like this! It’s not safe for you to be fighting and training when you’re not properly rested, you know that...”

Coran resumed analyzing his shoulder.

“And now you’re hurt because I snapped at you—Keith, I’m so sorry, I should’ve realized...”

“D-dont,” he managed through stiff breaths as Coran worked his bad arm gently out of his shirt, “s’not your fault, never is.”

Shiro set his jaw and eyed Coran who looked at him sadly and nodded.

“This conversation is far from over, but we have to get that shoulder fixed right now.”

Coran asked Pidge to gather some supplies and Lance to help him brace Keith.

“You’ll feel a small pinch in your arm now.”

He did. The area felt cold with the liquid that was now under his skin and Coran rubbed it for a minute before moving near his collarbone.

“This one might burn, but you’ll find it entirely numb in a dobash.”

This one was quicker, less to inject, longer to rub in so it spread. It burned and itched, earning a groan before he felt less of Coran’s fingers and more of just pressure.

“Oh, that’s... better.”

“Good, I’m glad.”

He felt someone kneeling behind him holding just below his shoulder and around his chest. Someone else was in front of him holding his arm up with their hand on his other shoulder, Shiro’s hands on his shaking one.

“Now I trust you’re familiar with what is about to happen, do you want me to explain what I am doing or—“

“Don’t explain, just—“

The pain that exploded with the hollow pop that followed was even grosser than the sound itself. Keith’s vision whited for a second and he was immediately ashen and panting as his body worked through the shock of the correction, his ears rang and so he wasn’t sure if he had screamed or not but with the way his throat ached he’d assumed he had.

Exhaustion weighed on him like a sopping wet blanket, making it difficult to keep his head up let alone his entire upper body. He wasn’t sure how long he had been leaned against Shiro’s chest once he started coming back to himself and realized he was the only thing keeping him upright.

Something was compressing his shoulder, pulling in places he didn’t quite like as it was wrapped tightly around the still damaged joint, making its way around his chest and back several times. Shiro held him away for a moment while something fell around his neck that held his arm against his chest and had an attachment to secure it to his side.

He tried to open his eyes and see what was going on but they were so very heavy and he was in awe of how he wasn’t entirely asleep by now, almost thankful for the steady ache behind his eyes as it was forcing him to keep them closed.

“You still there, Keith?”

He hummed into Shiro’s shirt in response.

“Hey, so we’re going to forgo the pod to repair all the torn ligaments for a little while. Coran thinks it’s best that you catch up on your sleep without the being frozen part... we’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow, does that sound alright to you?”

It sounded superb to him. Truly.

He wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline crash or the general daze from sleep deprivation, but he was entirely checked out. Sufficiently out of it to care much about anything other than Coran’s lovely altean painkillers and the comfy pillow his head was now resting on.

Once he was laid down he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness almost immediately, the last thing he knew before he was consumed in bliss was the blanket that was being pulled up to his chest and Shiro calming words.

“Rest, buddy.”

And he finally did because now he actually could.

He wasn’t sure if it was the level of exhaustion he’d brought himself to or the threat of pain when he awoke, but whatever it was keeping him asleep he was grateful for it. Coran never even had to administer a sedative to keep him down during the night, just pain killers so he wouldn’t be woken up by his shoulder.

He slept for a day and a half after that, everyone taking turns watching over him while he slept so Shiro didn’t bring upon himself a similar fate.

The next time he was conscious coming deep into the next night, nearly early morning. Shiro stirred in the chair he was posted up in when Keith groaned and tried to turn over but cried out instead.

“Crap, what—hey... you’re okay,” Shiro soothed as he held Keith’s searching hand away from the thick layer of bandages covering his shoulder.

“It hurts, Shiro! It h-hurts!”

“I know, Keith, I know it hurts.”

Shiro sounded sad, Keith didn’t want to make him sad.

“I’m sorry...”

“You don’t need to be sorry for anything, bud.”

“I was stupid, I shoulda t-told you—just didn’t want you to worry.”

“I’m always going to worry about you, Keith. All of us are going to worry until you stop giving us reasons to,” he laughed weakly as he ran his hand through Keith’s hair while his breathing returned to normal.

“And until then, we’ll be here to make sure you don’t get pulverized by the training simulators and aren’t walking around delirious from not having slept in a week, okay?”

“Aha, yeah... okay.”

He tried to doze off again, but the steady pulse of pain in his shoulder seemed to prevent it. After an hour of trying, Shiro called Coran in who agreed it was also time to go into a pod.

“You will feel as good as new in no time, number four.”

Keith nodded absently as he rested his head back against the cushion in the cryopod before its doors closed with a whoosh and then cold surrounded him, lulling him off into another much needed sleep.

[izlaria]

Someone you like (part 6)

This is the final chapter of my “Someone you like” inspired fic. It’s also available on AO3 in case you prefer that platform.

Special thanks to @rueitae for betaing this chapter and to @onlysilvy for being a darling this whole time. Your support means everything. Also, sorry, Rue, I have no self-control.

Summary: Lance falls in love with Pidge on two different occasions. They eventually figure it out.

25 and 23 years old

The end of Lance’s first year as an MFE fighter saw him standing in front of Pidge’s room, wringing his hands. Anxiety clawed at his chest, but he had made up his mind to finally confess his feelings. With the anniversary of Allura’s death fast approaching – it was only two months away –, both Keith and Hunk had advised him to either spill his guts soon or wait for the new year. Lance had taken this to heart.

His work in the Garrison didn’t put him in direct contact with Pidge, but the two of them always made up excuses to see each other after hours. They would spend evenings in his apartment, playing video games or watching movies, or they would go over to Shiro’s for a round of Monsters and Mana, enjoying how excited Curtis got over the storylines.

Most of the time, Lance felt like they were already a couple, with how much they bantered. Even Veronica assured him that they were insufferable. So, every day it got harder for Lance to control his instinct to pull Pidge to him and kiss her, to finally let her know how much Lance wanted her in his life, forever.

But he was getting ahead of himself.

Before Lance could make up his mind to knock, the door slid open to reveal Romelle. She stood there with a hand on her hip, her blonde hair pinned in a bun at the top of her head.

“You do realize there’s a sensor on the door?” There was laughter in her voice. “And a camera. I’ve been staring at your distressed face for almost five minutes.” Alarm must have flashed through his expression, because she snorted. “Don’t worry, she’s not here right now.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Romelle,” he said with little-to-no enthusiasm. The girl continued to grin at his misery, stepping aside so Lance could walk into the room. “When did you even get here?”

She moved to the bed, where several books were scattered around, and plopped back against the pile of pillows. Around the room, machinery parts and clothing pieces battled for the floorspace. It was an aspect of Pidge that never changed, the organized chaos of her room that no doubt reflected that brilliant mind of hers.

“Keith stopped by Altea to pick me up. Hunk wanted me to bring some produce from that quadrant, because Colleen’s last harvest was apparently jeopardized by a flood a junior botanist caused.” Romelle shrugged. “Katie didn’t know the specifics.”

Her use of Pidge’s given name no longer surprised Lance. People around the Garrison usually referred to the Holts by their titles, since their ranks within the organization demanded a certain level of reverence, but many of their colleagues from the war still called her Katie. Especially those who spent their time with Sam and Colleen, like Romelle.

“Have you seen Hunk and Matt yet?” Lance took a seat on the couch. It was old and gray, but comfortable enough. He and Shiro had dragged it into Pidge’s dorm after one too many nights of eating dinner on the floor.

The blonde shook her head. “Hunk and Shay are grabbing me for lunch and Matt is busy with his girlfriend.” She leaned against the headboard and, although her posture remained relaxed, the look in her eyes spoke of mischief. “Katie said I could chill –” she made quotation marks with her hands – “here while I waited, but if I’m interrupting something…”

Lance gave a spastic wave of his arms that probably did nothing to deny her suspicions. It was just his luck that Romelle was there again. She’d already witnessed his struggle when asking Allura out and now she could see right through him.

“Interrupting?” He forced a laugh. “Nah! It’s fine! Always good to see a friendly face!”

Romelle didn’t have the skill to emulate Pidge’s unimpressed look, but being best friends with Matt had certainly helped her get close to it. However, she also didn’t seem invested enough in his drama to pry, going back to digging through the books.

“I’m sure it was not 

 face you had hoped to see,” she commented nonchalantly, still looking down at the different covers. “Alas, it is what it is. Katie is in a meeting, so you might as well keep me company.”

Lance frowned at her, but chose not to follow through with the subject. “What are those books for?”

“It turns out that an education based around the teachings of a megalomaniac prince did not actually cover as much astrology as I had hoped.” Romelle looked down at her palms. There was an edge to her smile that Lance was sad to recognize as self-deprecation. “Hunk helps with what he can, but Matt and Katie are the real connoisseurs, apparently, so they gave me some material from when they were younger.” She heaved a sigh. “It’s a lot.”

“I’m really proud of you.” Lance smiled at her, a little awkward. “Allura would be, too.”

“What? Where did that come from?” Romelle made a face at him, but she was smiling as well. “I am simply trying to do my best. There is a lot I don’t know.”

“Yeah, but you’ve done your best since I met you and it’s always been enough.” Lance shrugged, shifting his gaze to the whiteboard that hung over Pidge’s bed. The equations there meant nothing to him. “Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to stop Lotor or Honerva. Besides, the Holts are very selective of the people they like. They don’t just take on hopeless cases.”

Romelle blew out a breath. Their eyes met tentatively, as they were both embarrassed by the situation. “You know, it is surprisingly easy to forget that you are a good person.”

“I’ve been told,” he deadpanned, much to the Altean’s amusement.

“Look, I do not need you to cheer me up. I appreciate it, but you can keep your compliments for Katie, who we both know would enjoy them more.” Even as she said this, it was clear that Romelle felt a little better. She picked up one of the books. “If you want to help, just quiz me on chapter ten.”

Lance got up from the couch to accept the book, grinning when he recognized the title. “Hey, I know this one!” He sat back down and flipped to the table of contents. “Yeah, I had to read this for a summer course I took when I was fourteen. That’s when I met Hunk,” he added for Romelle’s benefit.

“Hm, funny, that one is Matt’s.” She kneeled on the bed to look at the cover. “And there was one of Katie’s ribbons in it, so I believe she also read it.”

“One of her ribbons?” Lance frowned at her in curiosity. He had never seen Pidge carry ribbons around, but what would have been a ridiculous image in their teen years was now utterly charming. It was lovely to find out these small details about her.

“Yes. She used them to mark the pages when younger. There, there!” Romelle pointed to the book until Lance reached a page where a green ribbon laid across the words. She grinned. “Isn’t it adorable?”

It was.

At the same time, it reminded him of the difficulties Pidge had undergone during middle school and how she had only had Matt and her parents to rely on. Had she read her brother’s book as a way to escape the words of her colleagues? Or had she loved space so fiercely even then that her time of leisure was spent going through Matt’s training material?

“Do you think this is when their little feud over color-coding started?” Romelle broke him out of these thoughts. She had opened another one of the books and was flipping through the pages absent-mindedly. “I swear to the moons of Cobturg, if I have to listen to their arguments about this one more time, I–”

There was a beep and the door to the room opened once more, shutting Romelle up at once. Pidge took a second to look them over, before dropping her purse down at the coffee table.

“Why do you look so guilty?” She narrowed her eyes at Romelle, who let out a noise of protest, as if to say ‘Who? Me?’.

Lance went to her rescue. “She was telling me about the ribbons you used to collect.” He held up the green fabric, grinning. “Who would have thought? Our Pidge Gunderson was actually a normal, little girl once.”

Her hair was short again. It looked different, though, more put-together than the hairstyle she had used during their time in space. He supposed her responsibilities in the Garrison demanded a more polished appearance, but he kind of missed the disarray.

She looked very pretty like this. In fact, the overall effect of her wide-legged slacks, light-blue blouse, the hair and the boots left him feeling a little dazed.

Pidge rolled her eyes and made a grab for the ribbon, but Lance stood up and pulled it out of reach. She almost lost her balance from his sudden movement, putting a knee up on the couch to keep in place.

“Did you really come in here just to test my patience?” she asked, still standing in front of him.

Lance clicked his tongue playfully. “Nothing makes me happier than seeing you blush in anger.” He waved the ribbon around, smirking. “You make a beautiful tomato.”

“She’s more of a strawberry, really,” Romelle pointed out from her perch on the bed. She gestured towards her face. “It’s the little dots.”

“Those are called freckles.” Pidge pushed away from the couch and towards the Altean. “You were supposed to be studying, not ganging up with Lance to bother me.”

Romelle’s face dropped into an impressively effective look of anguish. “But it’s boring to study by myself.” She grabbed Pidge’s hands, swinging their arms lightly. “You promised I could do your hair before I left!”

Pidge glanced at him over her shoulder. Whether it was because she thought Lance might help her or simply because she was mortified by the idea of doing something so girly in front of him, he couldn’t tell. Before he could intervene, however, there was another beep from the door, then a knock.

“That must be Hunk,” Pidge declared, jumping away from Romelle.

The blonde rolled her eyes, but slid out of the bed and opened a small panel on the wall, where a screen was hidden. From behind her, Lance could see Hunk and Shay talking on the video feed.

“Saved by the bell,” he heard Pidge mutter under her breath.

“Aw, come on, Pidgeon.” Lance aimed a shit-eating grin at her, knowing it was easier to taunt her into things than to simply ask. “Now I want to see you looking all primped up!”

The girl did not back down. She puffed up her chest, lips set into a line, and turned to face him fully. “You’re supposed to be on my side here!” Then, in a lower voice, “I don’t want to set miss excitable over there loose with a brush!”

“I will have you know –” Romelle waggled a finger in the air – “that everyone in our crew thinks very highly of my styling skills. Is it not true?”

She whipped around to prod at her two teammates, who had just been let into the room. Hunk looked doubtful, but Shay nodded her head solemnly.

“Her hair is widely regarded as the most luscious and well-kept of our ship,” Shay declared with all the straight-faced earnestness that could be expected from a rock-person.

“She and Hunk are the only ones who have hair!” Pidge threw her hands up in frustration.

Lance felt himself chuckle. He barely ever got to see the interactions between this group. During his time at the farm, the only occasion when he saw everyone together was on the day they celebrated the end of the war. It hurt a little to think of all the events he’d lost while in Cuba or on his travels.

“How much harm can she really do?” He approached Pidge and ran a hand through her hair, letting the ends curl around his fingers. “I’m sure you’ll look beautiful.”

Pidge eyed him carefully and, though her countenance betrayed nothing, Lance was sure he’d felt her shudder at his touch.

“My hair is too short to do more than stubby ponytails,” she continued her objections. “It would be far from beautiful.”

“I don’t know…” He gave her a wink and, this time, red flooded her cheeks. “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing anyone could do to make you not beautiful.”

“I changed my mind.” The interruption froze him in place, hand still on the nape of Pidge’s neck. “Get me out of here,” Romelle said to the other two, ignoring the glare Lance sent her way. “Before I scream.”

Hunk choked out a laugh. “Elle, you haven’t seen the worst of it.”

Lance pulled his hand back quickly. He hadn’t meant to act so impulsively, not in front of their friends at least. The only excuse he could find was that their antics had filled him to the brim with affection and now it spilled out, untamed.

“Don’t you three have a lunch to get to?” Pidge pushed her glasses up, moving away from Lance and further into the room. She stopped by her bedside table and fiddled with a tablet that had been lying there.

Surprisingly, Romelle let her avoidance pass without comment. She gave Pidge a long look, before voicing her agreement. “I’m taking these two to that coffeeshop you and I go from time to time.” There was something strangely emphatic about how she was speaking. “They have a new dessert I want Hunk to try and replicate.”

Pidge tensed, still not looking up from the tablet. “You mean the one we discovered with Allura.”

Lance and Hunk shared a look of confusion and dread. From the way Romelle’s expression twisted, it didn’t seem like that kind of despondency was what she had been trying to evoke. And Shay, bless her heart, appeared to be at a loss and kept shifting her gaze between the four of them, waiting for an explanation.

“Should we go, then?” she asked, uncertain. Romelle gave a quick nod and turned her face away from them. The frown she sported appeared out-of-place in the usually bright Altean.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Pidge had sat down on her bed and her eyes zeroed in on Romelle. “We can talk more then.”

The two girls nodded at each other.

As they traded goodbyes, Hunk sidled up to Lance, giving him an all-enveloping hug. They had talked earlier that morning, but Lance’s impending confession put him out-of-sorts. It was a nice hug, another aspect of the Garrison life that he’d missed: his friend, the support he gave, his unyielding belief on the people he loved.

Hunk held him in the hug for a second. “Don’t let her get away, dude.” They separated, but his friend kept going. “Not like this.”

And then he and Shay were gone.

Romelle stopped at the door. She turned to give Lance a considering look. “You mentioned Allura earlier. Wherever she may be, she would have wanted nothing but your happiness.” Her eyes shifted to something behind him and Lance could almost feel Pidge’s uneasiness at the stare. “That goes for the both of you.”

The door closed behind her, leaving those last words to hang in the air.

“Will you tell me what that was about?” Lance crossed the room to sit by Pidge. He poked her knee until she looked up at him.

“Can I pretend that it was just Romelle being Romelle?” Her eyes were sad as she said this. He almost gave in, but his worry spoke louder than his sympathy.

“I might not know her as you do, but I doubt Romelle would say anything to hurt you.” He grimaced. “Not intentionally.”

“Intentional or not, I just think she’s meddling where she’s not wanted.” The sharpness in her voice made Lance flinch.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I am sick of people acting like they know what’s best for me.” Pidge wrapped her arms around herself. It was such an uncharacteristic gesture for her that Lance wasn’t sure what to say. “I am happy. Who is she to doubt that?”

“Your friend?” he offered, keeping his voice soft.

Pidge normally handled obstacles with a bull-headedness that most feared. She and Romelle had this in common, the fierceness that had sent them travelling through the galaxies to ensure justice was made for their families. His friend couldn’t see the hypocrisy in her claim that the Altean was being meddlesome when Pidge’s own curiosity had often led her to intrude on other people’s matters.

She was a very private person and almost completely indifferent to gossip, true, but she went above and beyond for what did spark her interest.

“Romelle being my friend gives her the right to question my judgement?” Pidge sent him a fulminating look, before turning her eyes away.

“A little.” Lance chuckled to himself, despite receiving an elbow to the side for his answer. “C’mon, don’t act as if you guys didn’t question my actions after the war!”

“Aren’t our circumstances a little different?” Her voice was dry as the Arizona desert. “It’s not like I’m burying myself in work or something. I just…” She forced out a breath. “I’m satisfied with my life. I have friends and my family is safe and I’m respected in the Garrison. What more does she want from me?”

Lance just looked at her. In many ways, Pidge was right. She was still very young, despite having lived through so much, and there would be time for adventures or romance or whatever Romelle had wanted for her.

Still, the notion caused something to ache in his chest. He wanted Romelle’s words to be about him.

Since his return, many of their colleagues had insinuated that there was something more between him and Pidge, and Lance had allowed it. He loved her sincerely, but he’d spent the past year swallowing flirtatious remarks, afraid to scare her off. The rumors about them had seemed like a good way to put the idea into Pidge’s head, even as she grew more and more upset with the comments.

“She mentioned the coffeeshop because she wanted to remind me of a conversation we had when we first went there,” Pidge confessed as the silence stretched between them. “About something I wanted all those years ago.”

“What was it?” Lance frowned at her.

“Nothing that matters. I couldn’t have it then and I can’t have it now.” She didn’t look away from him, this time, and their locked gazes sent electricity down Lance’s spine. There was a heaviness in her eyes that made them look dark, even in the well-lit room.

Lance reached for her hand, pulling her arm away from her middle and onto his lap. He played with her fingers; the ribbon lied forgotten over his thigh.

“Pidgeon, I’ve never known you to give up on what you want.” He smiled at her, feeling a wave of fondness shoot through him. Her hand twisted in his grip, as if she’d meant to close it into a fist.

“I thought I was over it,” Pidge whispered, more to herself than to him.

Lance worked his jaw, hoping he hadn’t misinterpreted the look she was giving him. He could swear her eyes had lowered to his mouth for a fraction of a second. It made his whole body feel hot, like a burning star had settled in his chest and turned the blood in his veins into pure heat.

The implication was not lost in him. Had Pidge liked him back then? Had that affection survived the years of his self-imposed isolation?

“I think –” he started, eyes unable to leave her face – “that some things are worth the wait.” And then, without breaking eye contact, Lance lifted Pidge’s hand to his mouth and kissed her pulse.

The reaction was instantaneous. Color rushed up her complexion, an uneven redness that Lance had taunted her about in their younger years and that now seemed disproportionally attractive. In this bubble of heat they created, Lance felt he could see her brilliance clearer than ever.

Pidge was beautiful, not only because of how she looked, but because of who she was.

Because he was looking so closely, Lance could tell the exact moment her bewilderment dwindled. Her eyes hardened, her mouth curved down.

“Can you not?” she snapped, shaking away his grip to stand up.

“Not what?” Lance stared at her back as fear welled up inside him.

“Not stand so close. Not touch me like that.” Pidge waved her arms around as she spoke. “Not get my hopes up when I know you don’t mean it.”

“How could you possibly think I don’t mean it?” It was his turn to sound indignant.

“Because you’re loverboy Lance! You go after these bombshell women, with their long limbs and their poise…” She struggled to finish her thought, groaning. “I don’t want to be another one of your conquests!”

“Is that what you really think of me?” He felt angry at the possibility. This was Pidge, someone who should know Lance better than the average, Voltron-show-watching acquaintance. She knew he hadn’t really gone into relationships in the past few years, still healing from Allura’s death.

“I don’t know what to think.” She stopped moving, letting her arms hang at her sides. Despite the defeat in her stance, when Pidge looked at him, there was pride in how she held her chin. “I know who I am. I am intelligent and brave and reliable. But I’m not nice,” she said the word with a hint of repulse, “or patient or charming.”

“Of course I know that!” Lance had to hold back a grimace. That hadn’t come out quite right. “But you wanna know what else you are?” He didn’t wait for a response. “You’re the girl who always called me out on my bullshit. The one who has saved my ass more times than I can count, who helped me study for my piloting exams.” He lowered his tone, calming down a little. “You’re the girl who came to meet me at the farm every month to bring all the games I had missed in the US.”

Pidge still didn’t look completely convinced, but she didn’t dodge him when Lance approached.

“The releases always came out late in Varadero,” she interjected with a frown.

He laughed at her excuse. “You came because you wanted to make sure I was okay. Then, after I was done wallowing, you were the one who flew out to meet me in Greece and Korea and Chile.” He took her hand, feeling more confident. “And every time we met up, it was like my body relaxed. Ah,” he acted out, “I’m finally here. With my best friend.”

“That’s just it, Lance. I’m your friend.” Pidge studied his expression with furrowed brows. “You may be feeling – I don’t know! Moved by how close we’ve gotten?” She shook her head. “But I was in love with you for three years before I could accept that you’d only ever have eyes for Allura.”

“We’ve talked about this, Katie.” He kept his grasp on her hand, even as Pidge tried to move away. She had grown uncomfortable with his use of her name. “I did love Allura, but she’s gone. I deserve to go after what I want, too.”

“And what you want is me?” she sounded unconvinced.

“How can you be so smart and still so dense?” Lance threw his head back in frustration. “Everyone sees it. Hunk, Shiro, even Keith!” He sighed. “Even Romelle. Today, she wasn’t making fun of you or scolding you or whatever that exceptional and traumatized brain of yours came up with.” Lance had to hold up a hand to stop her from interrupting. “Romelle was trying to encourage me.”

Pidge stood there and, although she was quiet, her eyes remained sharp. Lance feared that he’d gone too far, but he knew rationally that Pidge had already exposed all she had to say and that it was up to him to erase her doubts.

He raised his unoccupied hand to cup her cheek. Pidge’s eyes fluttered shut.

“I don’t want to lose you.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “How can you be so sure that we will be fine after this?”

Lance leaned down to press a kiss against her eyelashes, then her cheeks, then the corner of her mouth. He heard her inhale sharply and hold the breath. Feeling her reactions to him right under his palm was a kind of inebriation he’d never experienced before.

“I know,” Lance let his lips drag against her skin, “because I’ve committed myself to seeing you happy.” He put some space between them so that he could look into her eyes. The flushed vibrancy of Pidge’s complexion made an image that stupefied him. “Even if that means I turn away right now.”

Her hands snaked up his chest to rest on Lance’s neck, pulling him down. “Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” he couldn’t resist asking, a smile tugging at his lips. Pidge rolled her eyes but didn’t push away when Lance rested his forehead against hers.

“Don’t go.” She was the one to kiss the corner of his mouth, now. “Stay.”

They met in the middle.

Lance felt her hands curl into the collar of his shirt as they kissed, her lips pushing softly against his. The touch was unbearably tender, starting a tingle that ran up and down his back. In return, he used the hand that wasn’t on her cheek to hold Pidge against him. He drew circles on the fabric of her blouse, thankful that it was fine enough to feel the give of her skin underneath.

Pidge’s lips moved slowly on his, drawing out the sensation of that first contact. It was Lance who could no longer curb his want and he licked into her mouth, once, twice, until she was chasing his tongue with her own. Pidge sighed into the kiss, dragging a hand down over his chest.

He’d had kisses before – soft and passionate and frenzied and meaningless –, but the feel of Pidge’s body against him and the affection Lance held for her had ignited a spark inside of him that spread heat all over. It was the star, back again, now that there were no more secrets between them.

His smile broke the kiss and they parted, panting.

“So…” Lance let both of his hands rest on her waist. The smugness that grew within him must have shown in his expression, because Pidge looked immediately on guard. “When did you fall for me?” He traced a line down her back with his thumb. “I’m pretty sure I heard something about liking me for three years.”

Pidge pushed at his chest, walking him backwards. “Not telling.”

“Can’t I convince you?” He was trying to go for seductive, but the girl merely laughed.

“Don’t you have more pressing matters to focus on?” She continued to move them until Lance’s legs hit the edge of the bed. He blinked down at her.

“Think you can distract me?” He shot her a smirk. Despite the more sensual undertone it carried, challenges weren’t new between them. It comforted Lance that their dynamics had adjusted so easily to this new aspect of their relationship.

Pidge gave a final push, making him sit down on the bed. He had to brace himself against the mattress.

“I’m sure I can think of something,” she said, sarcasm thick on her voice. And then she climbed into Lance’s lap, a knee on each side of his thighs.

He felt his throat go dry and swallowed instinctively. The new position put her mouth just a little higher than his, making Lance tilt his head back to capture her lips.

“You know…” His voice came out strangled. “I always did like the way you think.”

When Pidge leaned over him, the feel of her hips lowering on his almost made him choke. A more conscious part of his brain was not surprised by her boldness, but it did nothing to calm his stammering heart.

“Just shut up, loverboy,” she muttered against his lips, even as their smiles made it difficult to really get into the kiss. Laughter bubbled up in him and Lance continued to kiss Pidge as her own giggles erupted. There was joy in her mouth and in his chest and in every point of contact between them.

--

“Oh, I’d forgotten about this.” Lance picked up the green piece of fabric that peaked out from behind a metal plaque.

Pidge glanced up at him, but her attention quickly shifted back to the code she’d been working on.

“Mom left a bunch of books for Romelle here. I think that’s where the ribbons are coming from.”

Lance smiled. He loved how casually they’d fallen into their relationship. As a young boy, he’d fantasized about girlfriends who fawned over him and his accomplishments, but, after so many years as an intergalactic authority, he had learned to appreciate how domestic they had become.

On moments like this, when it was just the two of them behind a closed door, each preoccupied with their own responsibilities, it was their friendship that he valued the most.

“They’re cute,” he exclaimed happily.

Pidge gave him a look of suspicion. “I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m serious!” Lance squirmed on the bed until he sidled up to her. “My first love also liked ribbons. It’s one of the things I remember the most about her, the green ribbon in her hair.”

“Are you comparing me to your first girlfriend?” Pidge sounded completely done with him and Lance couldn’t really blame her. “Even I know that’s a no-no in a relationship.”

“I’m not comparing anything!” He waved his hands defensively.

Pidge knocked their shoulders together in teasing. They’d only been together for two weeks, but Lance doubted he would ever see her truly jealous, not due to his mindless chatter at least. She and Hunk had told him that Pidge had shown signs of jealousy during their time in the Castle, but Lance couldn’t recall them for the life of him.

It was endlessly frustrating.

“You’re lucky I like you.” Pidge lifted his arm and put it around her, burying into Lance’s side.

“Do you think I don’t know that?” He ran his fingers up and down her skin, feeling the goosebumps that formed at his touch. “Fate was kind when it put you in my life.”

Lance dipped down to nibble at her ear, then trailed kisses over the column of her neck. Pidge giggled in his arms, ticklish and embarrassed at her reactions.

“Down, boy.” She pressed a finger to his nose, pushing him back a bit. He pouted at her, trying to entice Pidge into another kiss. “Are you gonna be this tacky every time I say something sarcastic?”

“For as long as you keep finding it attractive,” he retorted. Lance knew he was being conceited, but he couldn’t help it. There was no ego-boost quite like the sounds his girlfriend made when she was underneath him in one of their beds, mouths and hands fervent in their paths.

In a quick movement, he’d captured the tip of her finger between his teeth, biting playfully. It sent Pidge into a bout of laughter, which had her pushing Lance’s face away as he continued to pepper kisses on her palms, her arms, anywhere he could reach.

“You’re so freaking silly, sometimes!” Pidge draped her legs across his, locking him in place. “Why are you trying to catch my attention, anyway?”

Lance leaned back against the headboard, putting his hands on her calves. She was still in her pajamas; an oversized t-shirt and blue shorts that reached mid-thigh. It was more skin than Pidge normally showed, just another sign of how comfortable she was with him.

“I’m a little bored.” He scrunched up his nose, knowing that wasn’t a reason Pidge would accept. She tried to kick him on the arm, but Lance held on. “Hey! I’m done with the flight plans and you’ve been on your laptop since I got here! I’ve been good!”

“You just tried to make out with me,” she pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I was being good and now I want attention,” Lance corrected shamelessly.

Pidge narrowed her eyes at him, but closed her laptop and settled it next to them on the bed. She scooted a bit closer, until she was sitting on Lance’s lap with her arms around his neck.

“So quiet,” she taunted. One of her nails scraped just underneath his ear, making Lance groan. “And sensitive.”

“You’re a little devil.” He dropped his head on her shoulder.

“I finally found a way to shut you up.” Pidge’s carefree laughter rang right in his ear. Since their days as students, it never failed to bring him a sense of accomplishment. No one could distract Pidge quite like him. “I’ll use it how I see fit.”

She pressed a quick kiss to his nape.

Disgruntled, Lance straightened his posture and caught her lips more firmly, tracing the roof of her mouth with his tongue. Pidge responded with no hesitance and her hands dug into his shoulders to hold him in.

Despite the ease with which they fit, this was as far as Lance had tried to go. Kisses and small touches and gasps that left his entire body burning. Although Pidge had gone on a few dates while he was away, Lance was achingly aware that she was still somewhat inexperienced.

More than that, he knew two weeks could not erase insecurities that were born from years watching him flirt with other girls. He felt ashamed of how crass he might have been in front of Pidge, but he had been young and stupid and copying behaviors from men he’d once admired.

He was thankful for his teammates. Lance knew he was a better man for having known Shiro’s integrity and Hunk’s warmth and Keith’s honesty. Coran had shown him there was pride in being genuine. Allura had taught him about the reality of love. Most of all, he was thankful for Pidge and how she’d kept him in line.

They parted slowly, and Lance surged forward one last time to give a peck to Pidge’s lips. She smiled in amusement.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” She ran her fingers through his hair. “We don’t have to be at Shiro’s until dinner.”

Lance checked his watch. They still had a few hours, but he wanted to get something to eat before then. He’d come into Pidge’s room at noon to find she had just woken up, and his girlfriend had refused to go out before she made some progress on a program for Chip. She’d devoured a bag of chips while she worked, but that was not real food.

“We should grab a late lunch somewhere.” Lance disentangled himself from Pidge, much to her discontentment. “And then I need to get you some fruit or granola bars or something for this room.”

“If I need anything, I usually go to the cafeteria or one of the vending machines.” She shrugged, but accepted the hand Lance offered to pull her up.

“And you have the audacity to question my eating habits.” He sent her a sidelong glare.

“You might be able to cook, but it doesn’t count when the only thing you actually prepare is pasta.” Pidge continued to rifle through the clothes on the floor. Then, not finding anything she wanted, she moved to the wardrobe. “Before entering your pantry, I had only ever seen so much tomato sauce on supermarket shelves.”

Lance wanted to defend himself, but Pidge chose this moment to take the edge of her t-shirt and pull it out. It left her in only a bra and shorts, a sight that Lance couldn’t look away from. Her breasts were small but proportional to her petite frame and her skin was even fairer over her chest, ribs and stomach. The overall effect had Lance choking on air.

Pidge laughed as she pulled a dress over her head.

“That was on purpose!” Lance accused, once he’d found his voice.

“You wouldn’t take off my shirt yesterday, so I thought I would give you a taste, then leave you hanging. See how you like it.” She went to look herself over in the bathroom mirror.

“I was being a gentleman!” He puffed out his cheeks. Pidge loved to make things difficult for him, didn’t she?

“Lance, I love you.” She momentarily turned away from her reflection to look at him. “I have trusted you with my life and my heart. Do you really think I don’t trust you with my body?”

When Pidge said things like that, it always sounded completely logical, but relationships weren’t something one could rationalize their way through.

Lance went to stand behind her, resting his hands on the line where her grey dress flared out. Pidge looked very sensible and very beautiful in the high neckline, with how it left her arms exposed.

“I think I want you to believe how much I love you,” he answered, turning her around, “before we do anything you haven’t done yet.”

Her amber eyes were narrowed as she looked at him, but Lance didn’t back down. She eventually heaved a sigh and he could tell he’d won the argument.

“I can’t believe I’m dating a sap.”

“Hey, you knew who I was before!” Lance let her walk past him and back to the bed. “You signed up for this, Pidgeon!”

“Are you ready to go?” She pulled on her sneakers, glaring at him half-heartedly. At her side, Lance caught sight of the green ribbon again.

“Sure, but I think you’re missing something.” At Pidge’s look of confusion, he marched up to her and picked up the ribbon, waving it in the air.

“Really?” she deadpanned at him.

Lance chuckled, already gathering her hair with the fabric. “I just want to see how it looks.” He tied a bow on top of Pidge’s head, snickering. “That really is adorable.”

She frowned up at him and raised a hand to feel what he’d done, then groaned.

“That’s not how I used to wear it!” Pidge protested, already fumbling with the style until the fabric slipped down her short hair.

“Show me, then.” Lance propped his chin on his hand.

Pidge huffed, but laid the ribbon across her hair like a headband, tying a knot on one side and letting the excess fabric hang loose. “There!” she stated with a flourish. “Much less childish.”

“Huh.” Lance stared at her in puzzlement. “That’s… Huh.”

“Does it look that bad?” She patted at her hair. “I haven’t done this since I was thirteen.”

“No!” His answer was hurried. “It just… looks exactly how Italian girl wore it.”

Pidge blinked at him. “Italian girl?”

“My first love. I think I told you about her.” He couldn’t really shake the familiarity of the green ribbon against her reddish-brown hair. “We met in this Space Camp I went to in Miami. Ronie had a research position there and she dragged me along.”

“You’re talking about the Bouman Aeronautics Research Institute.”

Now it was just getting freaky. Pidge, too, looked at him like he’d grown a second head.

“Yeah…” Lance scratched the back of his neck. “How do you know that?”

“Because my father was a lecturer and Matt was also in the research program.” She sounded just as bewildered as he was. “You’re Spanish boy.”

The two stared at each other for a moment. Now that they were talking about it, Lance could see the similarities that he’d missed so far. It was no wonder he’d always liked Pidge’s eyes; he could still remember how they shone in the sunlight.

“Are you actually Italian girl?” He sat down, still in shock.

“I cannot believe that we’ve known each other this whole time.” Pidge threw her head back, laughing. He soon joined her. The situation was just ridiculous.

“And you didn’t want me to believe in fate.” Lance grinned at her. Pidge still wore the green ribbon in her hair and the color contrasted nicely against her features. Maybe it was because he still remembered how she had been as Italian girl, but the image made him feel unexpectedly soft.

“Oh good grief,” she exclaimed suddenly, eyes wide, “I’m the reason you believe in fate!” He burst out laughing again while Pidge swatted at his arm. “It’s not funny! It’s actually awful!”

“Well,” Lance said once he was able to control himself, “at least you can stop thinking you’re not my type. I fell for you twice!”

“You fell for a pretty girl in a dress that you met when you were a child.” Pidge snorted, standing up to grab her purse. Lance clutched her hand with gentle fingers and stopped her from turning away.

“I fell for a smart girl who helped me realize my worth. Twice.” He winked. “Though it certainly didn’t hurt that she was pretty.”

Pidge shook her head disapprovingly, but still leaned down to kiss him, lips moving in a tempting pace against his. When she pulled back, Lance tried to follow.

He felt dazed by their discovery, but not completely blind-sighted. Pidge had always intrigued him, even right at the start. It had taken time for Lance to recognize the feelings he developed for her, like it had with Italian girl, and then he was already in the middle of it, too into her to stop himself from acting stupid.

It might have been the quintessence stored in him or just wishful thinking, but he thought Allura, too, would be cheering for them.

Pidge pulled at his hand until Lance stood up. She looked a bit red, a bit breathless.

“We’ll finish this later, you Casanova.” And she sealed the promise with another kiss.

[themysteryofwriting]

No One Noticed...

Very important Note! I changed a lot of season 8 for plot reasons. 1. The whole ending arc, how they defeated Honerva, doesn't happen here 2. Instead there's some big final battle 3. After said battle, Honerva, losing all of her supporters, goes into hiding 4. Allura probably died in the final battle 5. The Paladins get magic rights How long had they been trapped here?  They weren’t even sure anymore? Weeks? Months? Years?  They had thought their fellow paladins would have noticed, would have rescued them, and yet, there had been no sign of them anywhere.  

Sometimes they had wished they hadn’t gone on that mission.  After all, that mission is where they were replaced with their clone.  Apparently, the Galra already had them ready, they couldn’t help but wonder if they had one ready for each of them and they had just been the one unlucky enough to be replaced.

They had tried to get out before, with no real luck.  And if their fellow paladins hadn’t found them by now...well they had to hope someone would find them.  Otherwise, they might be stuck here forever.

As they started zoning back into the world around them, they thought they heard footsteps...well more like footsteps out of the normal guard schedule.

They could feel a sliver of hope start to rise but squashed it, those footsteps probably didn’t mean anything after all. ~~

It was still strange looking through all these old Galra bases.  Of course, most bases had peacefully turned over once the whole announcement had gone through.

This was not one of them, unfortunately.  For the first time in a while, Keith had to call the other Paladins in to come help. Just like old times.

Except..for some reason, Lance didn’t want to come.  No matter how much they tried, none of them could convince them to come with him.  He kept stating that he’d prefer to stay at home.

That should have been Keith’s first clue.

But at the moment he was more focused on the base.  They probably didn’t need all of Voltron, so Lance could stay home if he wanted.

Maybe his trouble with Red was throwing him off, even though it had happened a while ago.  Maybe he should talk it over again with Lance once they got back from the mission.

It seemed like a normal mission at first, fighting Galra, keeping some of the distracted with the Lions while the others snuck in.

At least it was normal until they found that room.

Unlike the other rooms on the ship, it seemed more secluded, almost like it was barely touched.  Or maybe it was like that because not everyone knew about it.

There was no way Keith could have been prepared for what he found in that room. 

Actually, it would be more accurate to say cell.  As trapped in the room was Lance.  Keith was confused.  Hadn’t they left Lance at home?  What would he be doing here?

Lance glanced up at him from where he had been positioned. “I’d rather not do this today,” he muttered, “Not in the mood to deal with you.”

Keith was still slightly in shock but brought his hand up to his communicator.  “Guys I found something I think you’re all going to want to see.”

“We’re a little busy here Keith,” Pidge called, sounding slightly irritated as they worked on something, “Can’t this wait?”

“Not really,” Keith replied, “Look this is going to sound crazy but…”

“But what,” Shiro asked, noticing how Keith had started trailing off.

“I found Lance.  I know he stayed home but I swear he’s in front of me right now.”

“We’ll meet you there once we have everything else wrapped up,” Shiro said.

Keith gave a quick acknowledgment before glancing over to Lance.  Keith still wasn’t completely sure how they had captured Lance.  He had just been fine before they left so how did they even capture him and beat them here?

Keith must have gotten caught up in his thoughts because the next thing he heard was the gasp was Hunk upon seeing Lance.

Shiro started moving to get Lance out and Keith was about to move to help when he noticed something.  

Pidge had just frozen, they were staring at Lance, seeming to realize something.

“Pidge is everything okay,” Hunk asked noticing how they had frozen. 

“You mean you haven’t realized,” Pidge asked as they turned to Hunk, the shock in their voice evident.  

“Realized what,” Keith asked.

“No matter how you look at it, ance has been here a long time.  This means there’s one of two options here. Either the Galra have some sort of time manipulation technology, which we would have discovered by now, or the Lance we’ve thought was Lance wasn’t him and we didn’t even fucking notice.”

Keith froze, glancing back at Lance as Pidge’s words began circling in his head.  Were they right?  Did none of them notice that they were dealing with a clone rather than the real Lance?

After a long silence, Shiro walked up, Lance slung over his shoulder.  “Let’s just get home, we can deal with all of this once we get back to Earth, including dealing with the other ‘Lance’ back home.”

After some discussion, they decided Lance would ride with Shiro.

The ride back to Earth was the quietest they’d ever had.  Keith wasn’t sure what the others were thinking of but he kept wondering why he hadn’t noticed, hoping that for once in their life, Pidge had been wrong.  

It seemed like forever before they got back, all of them quickly rushing to the medbay.

After Lance was stabilized the rest of the Paladins went out to talk.  “We need to keep the Lances separate,” Pidge said.

“But why-,” Hunk started to ask.

“Because at the moment we don’t have a way to prove which Lance is the real one.  We know one of them isn’t real but until we can find a method to figure out how we can not let them meet.”

“Pidge is right,” Shiro said speaking up, “We don’t know what the clone, whichever they are, will do if they find the real Lance.  Hunk, you know Lance’s family right?”

Hunk nodded. “Yeah we hang out a lot, I’ve swapped a few recipes with his mom.”

“Ask them if they noticed any changes since Lance came back, anything they’ve noticed that might help us will work.”

Hunk nodded, heading off to go ask.

Pidge was quiet, clearly thinking for a bit before speaking up. “I think I can make something to detect the level of magic someone has.  It might take a bit but it could tell the difference between clone Lance and normal Lance.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hunk hummed, “I can try to help you if you need any help after I’m done talking to Lance’s family.”

Keith glanced around, not sure what he could do to help.  He glanced back towards the room thinking.  

Shiro must have noticed Keith’s glance as he spoke up again. “Keith and I can keep an eye on the Lances, make sure they don’t interact or anything like that.”

Shiro glanced over to Keith. “It might be better if I keep an eye on the one who’s been here the whole time.”

Keith nodded.  “You’re probably right about that.”  Keith wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep his thoughts in line to watch the one that wasn’t currently in a cryopod. 

Shiro nodded a bit. “So we’ll meet back here later today?”

They all agreed before going their separate ways.  Keith watched the others go before walking back in the medbay and sitting in front of the pod.

With no one to talk to besides those on duty, Keith’s thoughts were allowed to drift as he kept an eye on Lance.

What if Pidge was right and this was the real Lance?  How long had he been captured?  Had the same trick really worked all of them twice? Once with Shiro and now with Lance?  Were they really….that bad friends?

The next few days seemed to pass in a bit of a blur for Keith.  Hunk met up with everyone after talking to Lance’s family.

Apparently while the adults hadn’t noticed anything at first, the kids had noticed differences. While before everything, Lance played with the kids a lot, whether it was joining in on their games or helping them get what they needed for the games...within reason of course, after he got back he just...stopped.  

The adults had just brushed it off as he was still adjusting back from being in space, he also spent a lot of time alone whenever he had so free time so they thought that it was a part of that.

The second Hunk said that everyone grew concerned.  Lance had always talked about how close he was to his family.  He wouldn’t just distance himself for no reason.

But first….they had to wait for Pidge to finish their device.  

They worked a little faster with Hunk’s help, but that didn’t make the wait any less stressful, especially considering Lance still hadn’t woken up.  

Fortunately, both Pidge and Hunk were fast workers, especially once they worked together.  They called Keith down to their lab on the third day to test it out.

Being half-Galra had some advantages, one of those being he had a higher magic level then most humans.  

Then again, all of the paladins had higher magic levels from actually being in pure quintessence.  Keith remembered the magic everyone used in that final battle, though it didn’t seem anyone had been able to use it since.

The second he stepped into the lab, Pidge pulled him into a seat. “Good, you’re here,” they said, “Hunk and I have already tested it on ourselves, but we needed a test with a different level of magic before calling itcomplete. And Shiro’s keeping an eye on ‘Lance’ so you’re the best option.”

“What do you need me to do,” Keith asked, knowing Pidge probably wouldn’t calm until they were sure that this worked.

“Just sit there and let us test the device out,” they said, waiting until Keith sat down before rushing to grab the device.  

It only took a few seconds for them to rush back over to the device.  “Here this end is a bit like a thermometer, don’t worry we’ve already cleaned it.”

Keith nodded and put in his mouth, the second he did that, both Pidge and Hunk rushed to the other half of the device to see what it said.

After about a minute there was a beep and he could see Pidge grinning.

“So it worked?”

“Yep! I probably need to do some last minute adjustments before we use it on the clone, I’ll probably send a message for everyone to come down so he doesn’t get too suspicious,” Pidge answered.

Keith nodded. “I guess I’ll see you then?”

Pidge barely nodded, already deep into their work.  Keith left them to it, knowing he’d probably get shooed out soon if they didn’t anyways.

It was only a few more hours before Pidge sent a message to all of them in the group chat, the one that included the possible clone, telling the rest of the paladins (and the potential clone) to meet them in their lab.

Keith took one last glance at Lance before heading there.  He couldn’t help but hold onto that last shred of hope that they were wrong as he headed to Pidge’s lab. 

Keith was a bit surprised to notice he was the last one there.  He glanced over at ‘Lance’.  Shiro had probably brought him here.

Keith turned towards the front when Pidge cleared their throat.  “So I've been working on a device to test magic recently.  Mainly to see how it affected different species and all that, and I figured we’d be a good test run, most of us quite literally being in pure magic.”

Most everyone nodded, but Keith thought that he noticed a second of panic on ‘Lance’s’ face.  When he looked again though, it was gone.

Pidge had him and Shiro go first.  Two different levels to make sure the device couldn’t be overloaded, or at least that was their explanation.  After Shiro went, Pidge turned to ‘Lance’.

“Do you think you can go next Lance?  It would probably be good to get an example with the least amount out of the group and Hunk and i already tested earlier.”

“Well you shouldn’t need a test if you already have a few examples,” ‘Lance’ said, trying to backpedal.

“More data is better in situations like this,” Pidge shot back.

Seeing no other way out, ‘Lance’ stepped up to be tested, everyone’s eyes shooting to the screen.

Their worst fears were realized as the saw ‘Lance’  light up as made of magic.

‘Lance’ chuckled a bit.  “You know, I didn’t think it would take you this long to figure it out.  It didn’t take nearly this long for you to figure Kuron out.  I thought I was screwed once you figured him out I would have been discovered any day,” the clone smirked a bit here, “And yet no one noticed. Makes you wonder how much you really cared about him.”

You’d think after spending time with the paladins, the clone would have known better not to taunt them when the whole team was against them, as it only took another second before 4 paladins had their weapons at their neck.

As they took care of the clone, Keith came to a conclusion.  They were going to have tell Lance what happened when he woke up.

And none of them were looking forward to that.

[crazy-fangirl1245]

Here is my fanfic @plancesecretsanta for @its-ren-hakuryuu-me!  Per your request, I wrote about Pidge and Lance’s first date (*cough* which may or may not be inspired by an episode of Steins;Gate *cough*).  I hope you enjoy it, and Merry Plancemas! <3

“Allura, are you sure this is a good idea?”

Usually, whenever someone in the castle said those words, it meant that the suggested idea was most certainly not a good idea. But Allura was so excited that Pidge was about to go on her first date with Lance (and her first date ever!) that she had forgotten that little piece of information.  Not that anyone could blame her.  Pretty much the entire universe had been waiting for Pidge and Lance to go on a date for almost a deca-phoeb.

“Of course it is!” the princess gushed as she looked the tiny girl over.  “You look fantastic!”

Pidge turned around to look in the mirror and pursed her lips.  She knew she was supposed to feel pretty, but she just felt awkward.  It had been such a long time since she’d dressed like a…girl.

Allura had used some of the ship’s gadgets to fashion her a magenta knee-length dress with short sleeves and ballet flats.  She had then spent a couple hours pinning Pidge’s short honey-blonde hair back with a few tiny jewels.  Pidge knew that as the only other girl on the ship, Allura was really excited to have the opportunity to give her a makeover like this, but she was already nervous about this date and completely changing her entire look didn’t really help her anxiety.

When Lance had asked her for a date right in the middle of a mission (more accurately, in the middle of a particularly brutal fight), she’d been so stunned that she’d almost gotten blasted away and would have been if Lance hadn’t knocked her out of the way just in time.

“Is this really the right time for that?” she’d asked breathlessly.

“Well, I figured since we may or may not get out of this, I better stop putting off asking the question and just come out with it,” he’d answered in that infuriatingly confident voice of his.  “So how about it?”

After it was confirmed that the mission was won and they weren’t actually marked for death, Pidge had agreed.  It was obvious to everyone that she and Lance had a special connection, one she’d thought multiple times about furthering, but she was worried that taking the next step would ruin everything they shared.  What if this date was a disaster and they’d never be able to look each other in the eye anymore?  Or worse, what if their connection after tonight was so severed that they were never able to form Voltron again?

Pidge shook her head as she took off her glasses.

There was no use thinking of all the things that could go wrong. She might as well hope that everything went right.

But if the sinking feeling in her stomach was any indication, she had a bad feeling about this.

 ******

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lance asked.  “I feel like a dork.”  He quickly turned to glare at Keith.  “Don’t say anything.”

Keith closed his mouth.

“You feel like a what?” Coran asked.

“Never mind.”

Lance looked in the mirror at the formal brown suit Coran had forced him to put on.  He felt so awkward.  When was the last time he’d worn a suit?  Had he ever worn a suit?

“I have read up extensively on Earth dates so we could ensure that everything goes perfectly for you and Number Five, and it is a well-known fact that you’re always supposed to dress your best.”

Lance supposed he should consider it lucky that Coran had dressed him in something normal instead of something outrageously hideous that was considered some kind of Altean traditional wear.

“Yeah, but I look…weird.”

“Nonsense.”  Coran turned to Hunk who was eating a snack in the corner.  “Will you tell him he looks great?  It’s also a well-known fact that one is supposed to have encouragement from his fellow men before one goes on a date.”

Keith shrugged.  “I’ve seen worse.”

Lance rolled his eyes.  “Perfect, that makes me feel so much better.”

Hunk smiled at his friend.  “Relax, you look awesome.  It’s about time you asked her out.”

Lance looked back in the mirror and smiled fondly as he recalled finally building up the courage to ask Pidge on a date.  Well, ‘building up the courage’ as in ‘being fired upon and wanting to die without regrets’.

He had to admit, he was kind of surprised she ended up agreeing. And even though he was nervous about taking this next step into the unknown with someone he admired so much, he was also excited about what might lay ahead for them.

“Well, I can’t keep her waiting,” Lance said.

He ran his hands over his gelled hair and went out to the main deck.

 *******

Pidge took a deep breath, and then walked out onto the main deck where she was to meet Lance.

She awkwardly cleared her throat, and he turned around. Her cheeks reddened when she watched him stare at her.  She noticed that he had dressed into a brown suit and gelled back his hair, and while she’d admit that he looked really handsome, it also felt strange to see him wearing something other than his gray t-shirt and brown jacket and his hair actually styled rather than him just running his fingers through it and calling it a day.

Lance wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen Pidge up close without her glasses before, but he’d never quite realized how pretty and striking her brown eyes were.

And he’d definitely never seen her in a dress.  He could feel his face warm as he looked at her shyly clutching the skirt of it in her hands and looking everywhere but at him.

Since when did she get nervous around him?

Lance confidently strode up to her and offered his arm. “Shall I show you to your table, milady?”

With a nervous and awkward smile, Pidge took his arm and he escorted her to the dining area where Allura, Coran, and the other Paladins had arranged a beautiful candlelit dinner for them.

Lance pulled Pidge’s chair out for her before sitting down himself.

It would be wonderful to say that Pidge’s fears were unfounded, the date went perfectly, and she and Lance chatted comfortably until the morning.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

The dinner was a very long and awkward affair, and for both of them, it couldn’t end fast enough.  Neither of them seemed to be able to think of things to say, and there were so many stretches of silence that they both secretly hoped for a sudden Galra attack that would cut the date short.

Lance didn’t understand.  If Pidge was so against the idea of a date, why had she agreed in the first place?  Was it out of pity?  Did she just not want to hurt his feelings?  Had he read the connection between them completely wrong?

After what felt like an eternity, Pidge stood up from the table.  “I think I’ll head back to my room now.”

Lance stood up as well.  “Oh, let me escort you.”

“No!  No, that’s okay.  Thanks for the date, Lance.”

“Yeah.  Sure.”

Lance watched Pidge hurry away as if Zarkon himself was on her tail.  Geez, was he really that bad at dating?  Sure, he’d never actually been on a real date before despite being a (self-proclaimed) ladies’ man, but he didn’t think he would fail so spectacularly at it.

With a long and heavy sigh, he abandoned the table and the rest of their unfinished meal to go see Blue.  At least he still had a connection with her.

When he entered the hangar containing his massive mechanical lion, he felt Blue tensing up and getting ready to blow him to smithereens.

“Easy, girl, it’s me,” Lance said quickly.  “Come on, I don’t need you hating me too.”

He felt Blue relax.

“You didn’t recognize me in this getup, huh?”

A gentle prodding in his mind made him feel a need to explain why he currently wanted space to swallow him whole.

“I went on a date with Pidge.”

Lance could feel a jolt of surprise and then a kind warmth inside him.

“Yeah, well, let’s just say…it didn’t go well.  I don’t understand what happened.  We’ve always gotten along so well before.  Why should one date change everything?”  He flung off his suit jacket and leaned against Blue’s right paw.  “I mean, I’ve liked her for a while now which I’m sure you know.  I’ve been wanting to go on a date with her for ages.  I just wish she felt the same way.  Am I really that bad to hang out with?  I mean, that was one of the most painful experiences of my life.  I’d rather be shot by Sendak again than endure another dinner like that.  I just don’t get it.  We’ve always been comfortable around each other.”

Lance looked at his discarded suit jacket and recalled Blue’s feelings of unease when he first entered the hangar because she hadn’t recognized him when he’d first approached.

“Wait a minute…that’s it.  We’ve always been comfortable around each other.  But tonight, we weren’t our normal selves. We were trying to be someone else. No wonder it went so poorly.”

Lance quickly scooped up the suit jacket and started running out of the hangar.

“Thanks, Blue!”

With no time left to waste if he wanted to salvage what was left of their night, Lance changed back into his normal clothes, restored his hair to its usual mussiness, and rushed down to Pidge’s room.

“Pidge?” he called, knocking on her door.

No answer.

“Pidge, come on.  I’m not leaving until you at least give me a chance here.”

After a few more seconds of silence, the door slid open. Pidge had yet to change out of the dress, but she had put her glasses back on and had taken all of the pins out of her hair to let it resume falling naturally around her shoulders.

She looked down at the floor.  “What?”

“Let’s pretend that the last couple of hours never happened and completely start over.”

“Lance—”

“Come with me!”

Giving her no time to protest, Lance grabbed her hand, practically dragged her down to the hangar, and brought her onto Blue.

“What are you doing?” Pidge asked quickly.  “Where are we going?”

“Do you know why people date?”

The girl sighed.  “To get to know each other and see if they want to pursue a relationship?”

“Sure, that’s one reason.  Or people date because they genuinely enjoy spending time with each other and want a reason to spend even more time with each other and have fun together.  The problem is that we were doing things the first way.  We got dressed up and tried to make a good impression.  But we passed that stage months ago.  We probably know each other better than most couples by now. So instead of doing that, let’s go to the place where we’ve had the most fun so far.”

In a few minutes, Pidge’s lips curved up into a real smile for the first time all night.

Lance had brought her to the Space Mall.

“Do you think that mall security guy will remember us?” Pidge asked.

Lance shrugged.  “If he does, we’ll just figure out a way to escape before he can catch us.”

Now this seemed more like them: walking straight into the face of potential danger and deciding that they were just going to wing it.

Blue set down outside the mall and allowed her two passengers to disembark.

“We’ll be back in a bit, girl,” Lance smiled as he lightly rubbed his hand over her paw.  “While we’re gone, stay safe and don’t talk to strangers.”

Lance took Pidge’s hand in his and bounded inside the mall. Pidge couldn’t deny that she was rather charmed by his excitement.

“So where should we go first?” he asked her.

“We’ve only been to one store in here before.  I don’t even know what else there is.”

“Let’s hit up the food court.  I want to see if they’re still using Hunk’s dishes.”

Lance led the two of them down to the other end of the mall where several restaurants were advertising their various meals and desserts. Nothing looked particularly appetizing to them, but they nearly doubled over with laughter when they noticed that a poorly drawn rendition of Hunk’s face was hanging above the stall for Vrepit Sal’s along with the words ‘If it ain’t perfect, it ain’t coming out of this kitchen!’

“Oh, I cannot wait to tell him this,” Lance smirked.  “You want anything to eat?”

Pidge looked at a plate of what looked like tentacles.  “I think I’ll pass.”

“Probably a wise choice.”

When they passed by a clothing store, Pidge elbowed Lance and pointed out an utterly atrocious green full-body outfit with blue polka dots. “I dare you to try that on.”

“Dare accepted.”

So they walked into the store, and Lance tried on the outfit. Somehow, it looked even worse off the rack.  Pidge thought she might die of laughter when Lance stepped out of the changing room.

“You look like a sick leprechaun who ate too many marshmallows!” she gasped.

“All right, all right, you’ve had your fun, now it’s my turn.” Lance picked out a long tacky orange dress with horrendously puffy sleeves accompanied by a matching hat that was about the length of Pidge herself.  “Here you go.”

“I’m not wearing that.”

“If I’m looking like a fat, sick leprechaun, you can put on the universe’s worst red-carpet look.”

Pidge reluctantly took the dress from him and went into the changing room.  The beam overhead sized her up then zapped the dress and hat onto her body.

Pidge thought she might die of embarrassment when she stepped out of the changing room.  The dress was so long on her short body that it went well past her feet and the arms went so far past her hands that she couldn’t even roll them up.  The worst part was the hat.  Why anyone would want a hat so big was beyond her.  She couldn’t take one step without knocking clothing off the racks.

Lance tried to stifle his giggles but his efforts proved futile.  “This is worse than a failed red-carpet look.  This is like…this is like…I don’t even have any words.  It’s terrible!”

Pidge rolled her eyes and started laughing with him.  “I feel like an idiot.”

“Join the club.  I say we pick things we thing we might actually look good in now.  Here, try this on.”

Pidge took the new dress from him and quickly stepped back into the changing area.  She didn’t even care what he’d picked out, anything had to be better than this orange monstrosity.

The beam zapped off the dress she was half-wearing then zapped on the new one.  She was too nervous to look in the mirror, so she just stepped out.

Lance’s eyes widened when he saw her, and he could feel his face warm again.  “Whoa. Pidge…you have to get that.”

At his genuine reaction of admiration, Pidge turned around to look in the changing room mirror.  The dress Lance had picked for her was long-sleeved with a sheer neckline.  It faded between dark blue, indigo, purple, and pink, and stars clustered together all over it.  She looked like she was wearing a galaxy.

“You like it?” she asked quietly.

“It looks amazing,” Lance answered.

“I like it too.”  It definitely suited her much better than the magenta dress.  “I’ll get it then.”

“Okay, pick one for me.”

“But I like your shirt and jacket the most.”

“Well, then shirt and jacket it is.”

Lance went into the changing area and zapped out of the hideous green polka-dotted outfit and back into his normal clothing.

“As long as you don’t mind you looking so much better than me?”

“It’s not hard to do that,” Pidge smirked.

Lance laughed and went to the counter to pay for Pidge’s dress.

When they walked outside, he took her hand and smiled.  “Come on, we’ll go check out that Earth shop again. I want to see if they have any more video games.”

“Ooh, and I want to know if they have any add-ons!”

The two of them casually walked back to the only shop they were familiar with in the mall and once again happened upon the alien shopkeeper who dressed like a grandparent trying to fit in with the younger generation.

“Ah, welcome back, friends.  Tell me, how’s Kaltenecker?”

“She’s as beautiful and perfect as ever,” Lance smiled. “I’m not really sure why you gave us a free cow, but thanks!”

“Do you see anything else that interests you today?”

Pidge looked around the store.  “No, I don’t think we—Oh, my gosh!  You have Killbot Phantasm 10?  I didn’t even know there was a 5 through 9!  And look!  This one comes with 5 through 9 as an extra bonus!  How much is this?!”

The gray alien counted out on his fingers.  “That’ll be four thousand GAC.”

“Four thousand?!  Uh, will you take two thousand along with my sincerest thanks?”

“No.”

Lance gave the alien a charming smile and pulled out a small wallet.  “Relax, I’ve got this.  No more fishing for coins this time.”

He handed the alien the requested amount of money to pay for the video game.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” the alien smiled at them. “Feel free to stop by any time.”

As they left the store, Pidge clutched the video game to her chest.  “You didn’t have to do that.  You already paid for my dress.  We could’ve just come back later when I had the money.”

“But why do that when I have the money now?  Besides, you can’t think that you’re going to be playing that by yourself.  I’m going to be getting as much entertainment out of it as you are.”

“I think he overcharged you.”

“Probably, but I don’t think he gets a lot of customers. May as well let him have this.”

Pidge smiled to herself.  Lance had a pretty big ego and usually wasn’t afraid to let people know it, but that tiny act of kindness reminded her why she had fallen for him.

They continued walking through the mall and ended up at the same fountain they had gone searching for coins in the last time they’d been here.

Lance kicked off his shoes and jacket.

“What are you doing?” Pidge asked.

“I said we didn’t have to go fishing for coins again.  I didn’t say I couldn’t get in the fountain again.”

“But why would you want to?”

“Why not?”

That seemed to be Lance’s motto for life, and Pidge wondered how it hadn’t gotten him killed yet.

To the dismay of the aliens passing by the fountain, Lance ran up to it and splashed inside with a triumphant laugh.

Pidge rolled her eyes, hating how this kind of thing amused her.

“Come on!” Lance called as he ducked under one of the tiny waterfalls.  “The water is nice this time of year!”

Unable to resist, Pidge kicked off her shoes and set the video game down on top of their clothing.  Then she ran up to the fountain and jumped into the water.

As soon as she was standing in the fountain, feeling several new coins digging into her feet, Lance kicked a wave of water in her direction which drenched the entire bottom half of her new dress.

Pidge playfully glared at him and knelt down to splash him with both of her hands.  Lance ran around the fountain to come up behind her.  Then he put his arms around her waist, picked her up, and held her directly beneath one of the tiny waterfalls, effectively drenching all the places that had previously managed to stay dry.

Lance then gently dropped her, enough so that she didn’t hurt herself but she still fell over into the water.  Pidge kicked one of Lance’s legs out from under him and he fell down next to her with a large splash.  She laughed as she pushed his head under.

Lance came back up with small coughs and laughed even harder. “Hey, do you remember how I caught that one poor kid’s coin in my teeth?”

“I bet you couldn’t do that again,” Pidge smirked.

“Oh?  And what are we betting?”

“…A second date.”

Lance smirked back at her.  “It’s on.”

He hunched over and waited for a poor unsuspecting coin-thrower to approach the fountain.

Then he spotted one.  A small purple alien about the size of Pidge skipped up to the fountain and readied her coin in her four-fingered hand.  The second the alien flipped the coin, Lance leapt forward, burst through the tiny waterfall, and snatched the coin in between his teeth.

“Hey!” the young alien exclaimed.

Lance stood up on his feet again and flicked the coin back to her.  With a charming smile, he told her, “Sorry about that, I just needed to prove a point. Try again, I promise not to interfere this time.”

The female alien lightly blushed.  “Oh, that’s okay.”

Lance splashed back over to Pidge.  “And that is that.  So I believe that means a second date is on the table.”

Pidge couldn’t help smiling.  “I honestly didn’t think you were going to be able to repeat that.”

Lance swept his hand through his wet hair.  “I can’t believe you ever doubted me.”

“Can’t you?”

“Come on, let’s get back to the ship.”

Lance stepped out of the water fountain and held his hand out so he could help Pidge step out as well.  They retrieved the video game and their shoes but opted to continue walking around barefoot.  Instead of slipping his jacket back on, Lance lightly draped it over Pidge’s shoulders.

They were just about to step onto the escalator when they heard, “I thought I told you pirates not to come back here!”

Pidge and Lance frantically spun around to see Varkon on his tiny mall scooter.

“Run!” Lance yelled as he quickly snatched Pidge’s hand.

The two of them slid down the escalator railing and then booked it to the mall’s exit hallway, laughing the whole way.

Varkon stopped at the entrance to the hallway.  “And stay out this time!”

Lance turned around with a smirk.  “Never!”

“Why, you—!”

Whatever insult Varkon was about to come up with, which was surely going to be a terrible one, they never heard because they continued running down the hallway and didn’t stop running until they were back onboard the Blue Lion.

Lance quickly guided Blue back to the castle before Varkon decided to take any extra measures to ensure they didn’t come back to the mall (which they definitely were going to do).

Only moments later, they were back in the hangar in the castle.

“So how about we play some Killbot Phantasm 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10?” Lance asked.

Pidge gave him a devilish smile, completely forgetting they were still soaking wet.  “I hope you know that victory is already mine.”

“I’ve already squashed your expectations once tonight. There is nothing stopping me from doing so again!”

“You’re on!”

The two of them quickly ran out of the Blue Lion and down to Lance’s room where the video game system was already hooked up.

It took about two minutes for them to become completely invested in the game.

“Hey, Lance?” Pidge said, her eyes still on the screen. It was going to be much easier to say this when they were mostly focused on something else.  “I had a good time tonight.”

“I did too,” Lance answered as he frantically pushed several buttons at once.

“I was…worried that us going on a date would…ruin things. I was even afraid we might not be able to form Voltron again if it went poorly.”

“Aw, Pidge, no matter how this turns out, I’ll never let our friendship be ruined to that extent.”

Pidge blushed.  “You know, for the record, I was going to go on a second date whether you caught that coin or not.”

This time, Lance blushed.  “Well, I think we can definitely agree on one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Coran and Allura are not allowed to help on our dates anymore.”

 *******

Allura, Coran, and the rest of the Paladins found Pidge and Lance the next morning fast asleep in front of Lance’s TV.  With the video game’s main 8-bit theme continuing to play softly in the background, Pidge, still wearing his jacket, had curled up next to Lance and his arm loosely draped around her waist to hold her close to him.

“I think we should just leave them be for a little while longer,” Allura smiled.

[snaileer]

Chips & Salsa Chp 2

He could already hear the ringing in his ears, the piercing screams that rose every time he stopped. Anytime that he rested, anytime he wasn’t fighting, hurting, killing for the Arena’s amusement.

It had been with a sense of dread that Lance had realized he’d become dependent on the fights. He waited for the next one, and the next, and the next; every muscle tightening the longer it took. 

Once, they’d waited almost a whole week between a fight. Just to see him struggle, to see him beg at the end of it.

“Ask to fight and you shall Paladin,” they’d told him. He’d refused, with every fiber of his being, he’d refused. 

At first.

Then days passed, the guards had barely fed him, and he could hear the ringing start in his ears.

But he could deal with it. He had 4 siblings and even more squealing nieces and nephews. He could push through the noise, he’d done it before. He would not break.

And then it had grown.

The ringing had grown from a high pitched hum, to a roaring yell. And they told him, “Ask to fight and you shall,”

He said no. He kept saying no. He screamed it at them, just to hear his own voice above the neverending scream in his ears. 

But he could tell his body was itching for the fight. Like an addict with a fix. 

Just one fight. Just to make it stop. Just to move, to do something.

But he denied the urge, that horrible darkness that screamed to be let out. He denied it until he couldn't anymore. Until it seemed to take up every single thought he had. Until he could barely think past the noise of it echoing through his brain. One thought could still get through.

“I’ll do it,”

“Say it again, Paladin,”

“I said fine! I’ll fight for you! Make it stop! Just let me out! Let me fight!”

Nothing.

“Please,” It damaged his soul just to say that one word. And yet, when they took him to the Arena and he fought, when he killed and the buzzing of his mind finally settled, he couldn't find it in him to regret it.

And now he could already hear the ringing in the back of his head. Could already hear it growing. Growing as he tried to rest for just one second.

It rose, screeching in his ears and still growing. And it brought with it only one word;

Fight.

x--x--x

Shiro stalked down the prison hallways of the Arena ship. The floor was littered with deactivated sentries, which their EMP had successfully destroyed with the rest of the ship’s controls. He kicked past the metal bodies. He checked every cell, ushering any remaining prisoners towards freedom. He was only looking for one prisoner. One very specific, very important prisoner.

Lance.

Shiro would tear apart the whole ship if he had to. To find him, to find that laughter, the personality that could lift the room, even in the middle of a war. They’d missed it more than any of the team would ever admit.

“Shiro, the Blades have cleared the battle room and prisoner levels one and three.”

“I’m already on level two, Pidge.” The battle room. A nice way of telling him the Arena was empty.

“What if he’s not-”

“Don't even say it, Pidge,” Hunk cut in from beside him, Shiro had almost forgotten the boy was even there. The lack of frightened comments and anxious rambling had made Hunk all that much more invisible. Hunk with no Lance was different too, and it was just another missing piece without Lance.

“Fine. I’m sorry. Be sure to check the room at the end of the hall. It looks like it’s the med-bay for the prisoners,” Pidge’s comm crackled as she ended the conversation.

She was right, the last room did look different. And it was definitely bigger.

But it was also definitely not the med-bay.

The knives and the blood on the floor told them exactly what it was used for. Torture. 

Hunk gagged beside him. Shiro scanned the room, blatantly avoiding the table and weapons, he didn’t have time to get pulled into a flashback. Not when he had a mission.

His eye caught on the space in the back of the room. Small, but enough space for a medical pod. He stepped towards it hesitantly, but his gut still squeezed.

“Hunk, I think-” But Hunk was already moving around the room and had found the pod too. “Shiro, there’s a healing pod back here! There’s someone in it but the EMP we used took down the systems.”

“I’ve got it,” Shiro shoved his own problems down and moved to help Hunk.

“I can't get it open, we’ll have to break the glass,” It was too opaque to be real glass and without power, it would stay that way. Still, it broke like glass when Shiro punched it with his prosthetic.

And Shiro’s heart stopped when the shards fell away.

“We found him,” Shiro vaguely registered Hunk say it, then yell it into the comms. “We found him. Guys, we found Lance! He was in a pod, but we found him, and-”

Shiro snapped out of his daze to catch Lance as he fell from the pod. He weighed almost nothing, looked like skin and bones and roughly refined muscle.

“He’s still asleep, Hunk, we need to go. Now!” If Lance was in a pod, that meant he was injured, that he was hurt badly enough that he would’ve died without it. And now that the pod was broken...

“Yeah, okay, let’s go! Come on, I’ve got the map to the hangar.” Hunk took off down the hallway, Shiro carrying Lance and running behind him. 

“Coran, we’re gonna need a pod as soon as we get to the castle. Lance might be injured,” 

“Is he okay?”

“I don't know, he’s still sedated. Shouldn't he be awake by now, Coran?”

“If the pod’s cycle was stopped early, he’s still going to be in stasis, but not for long. Get him here, quickly. If he wakes up with an injury, it could- .”

“We’re loading into the Black Lion now. Everyone get back to the Castle!” Shiro couldn't bear to listen to the possibilities of what could happen, “Allura, tell the Blades we’ve found him,” 

“Already done, Shiro,” Shiro paused when he had to lay Lance down in Black’s cockpit, only reassured when Hunk sat right next to him.

Shiro pushed Black’s speed back towards the castle. He could hear Lance groan behind him. “Hunk-”

“Shiro, he looks so different. He looks-”

“I know.” He did know, he’d seen the hardness in Lance’s face, visible only if you looked. His hair was cut differently too, it looked vaguely like an undercut, but it was old, starting to grow out of the style. Not even to mention the blaring difference of the prisoner rags, he could already tell Lance would’ve complained about how they clashed with his skin tone. Would’ve.

The moment Black’s feet touched the ground, Hunk was already carrying Lance down the ramp at a run towards the med-bay. Shiro was right on his heels the whole way.

Lance groaned again, and they could hear the pain behind it.

Coran was waiting for them the moment they burst through the doors. They were putting on the medical suit when the rest of the team came running in a moment later. Everyone stopped short at the sight of Lance. 

“Is he-?” Pidge started, her voice uncharacteristically sad. All of their eyes were drawn to the scars as he lay on the medical table.

“He’ll be alright, Shiro, help me get him in the pod.” Coran finished putting the suit on and lifted Lance’s body over to the prepared pod. He gave him to Shiro so he could turn on the machine.

They watched the pale cover slide over his body and the readings pop up on the screen.

Time didn't seem to move anymore. 

Because Lance didn't look like Lance. He looked like a shadow, an empty, dark version of their friend, of their teammate.

All they wanted was for Lance to be okay. For him to be playing a terrible practical joke. For him to finally break character, to laugh and as he talked about how “Oh you should have seen your faces! They were priceless!”

The last few months had been empty without that laugh.

To just hear that laugh. Just once.

But he wouldn’t

They had him back, finally. And yet, they doubted they would ever have that Lance again. The Galra would have crushed him, crushed every bit of his carefree spirit, every remnant of that amazing, loving person. And left nothing in its place.

Lance looked like he was in pain even in the pod. His face scrunched up and tension laced through his body.

“Alright, all of you, out.” Coran turned back to the team gathered around the pod, and time started back up again, “All of you need to rest.”

“I’m not leaving him here alone, what if something-” Keith started, his stubbornness rearing its head.

“Nothing’s going to happen, he’ll be okay,”

“Will he though?” Hunk was almost too quiet, his eyes pinned to the floor.

“What the-? Hunk, why would you say that?” Pidge whipped around at him.

“We all saw the scars. Some of those were definitely not accidents and we know he was in the Arena; Pidge, what if he’s gone? What if our Lance is gone? What if my friend is gone?”

“He’s not! We got him back! He’s fine!”

“Be quiet!” Both of the kids went silent at Coran’s parent voice, even Keith shut his mouth from preparing to enter the argument. “I’ll not have this team falling apart now, not when we are so close to being all together again. Lance would not want that. He wouldn't want you to be arguing, or working yourselves to exhaustion. You all need to eat and get some rest. Our boy is tougher than a Balmeran’s scat, so you’re just going to have to trust he’ll make it through this.”

“Coran-”

“No, Princess, I’ll not hear another word against it. I’ll stay here and monitor his readings until you’re all back in tip-toppity shape. So out! Out, I say!” He started motioning with his hands, shooing them out of the room and towards the doorway.

BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep

“What in the-” Coran stopped pushing them out and ran over to Lance’s pod.

“What’s wrong Coran? Why is it beeping? Is he okay?” Keith was the first to rush back in, the rest of them right behind him.

“He’s waking up! I saw his heart rate was a little fast, but he shouldn't be waking up, it’s too early!”

“Why isn’t the pod keeping him asleep? Is it malfunctioning?” Allura was pressing buttons on the pod’s screen cover, trying to figure out what was wrong with the pod.

“It should be working, but-” the woosh of the pod opening made everyone shut up, holding their breath as Keith moved in front of Allura to catch him. He caught Lance by the shoulders, expecting the weakness that often came with the healing pods.

What he got instead was a knee to the stomach. Lance was suddenly a whirlwind of punches and movement, each one hitting a surprised paladin. Except Shiro, Shiro knew what this was, he’d seen the glazed over look in Lance’s eyes. He’d seen it in himself, too.

“Lance!” Nothing, Shiro continued to dodge the blows, “Lance, you’re not in the Arena!” Shiro managed to land his own hit to Lance’s side, surprising him enough to bring him to the ground. “Lance, please, you’ve got to wake up.” Shiro held his wrists, pinning him down, “You’re safe, now. You’re at the Castle, you don't need to fight.”

That seemed to finally give him pause. Just for a second.

“The Castle..” His eyes cleared just a bit, enough to finally see the people around him, “Shiro?”

“Yeah, buddy, it’s us.” Just hearing the sound of his voice, no matter how rough, seemed to heal everyone’s hearts, just a little. “You’re at the Castle, we rescued you. You’re safe now.”

“I’m at the castle?”

“Yeah, Lance,”

“Really, actually here?” The way Lance said it troubled Shiro with the implications. Implications that he didn't believe he would be saved.

“Of course Lance. We saved you,”

“F*ck!” That was the last thing any of them expected Lance to say.

“What?” Hunk looked like he was in shock at Lance’s reaction

“Crap! Crap crap crap!” Lance started trying to push Shiro off of him again, “Dios mio, Shiro, get off of me. You’re like a ton of bricks,” For a ‘ton of bricks’ he sure got out of it quickly. But Shiro’d be lying if he said he hadn't missed those small jokes and the accidental use of spanish every now and then.

Lance jumped up from the floor and moved towards the medical cabinets in the room. Rummaging through them recklessly, swiping stuff off the counters and pushing things out of the cabinets. He was muttering and cursing under his breath, “Where is it? They’ve got to have one somewhere in here,”

“Lance!” And ignoring them apparently, too. “Lance!”

“Lance, stop it!” This time it was Keith who basically yelled his name as he stomped over and grabbed Lance’s wrist. Lance stopped dead in his tracks the moment Keith touched him.

Lance yanked his hand back immediately, and Keith stood just as still as the rest of the room. None of the team dared to move, afraid they’d scare Lance away like a frightened animal. Lance could be going into another flashback, they didn't know what any of his triggers were yet. They couldn’t help him yet. 

Lance’s eyes scanned Keith, catching on the hilt of his blade holster. 

“Finally!” Lance grabbed the knife in seconds, moving to a mirror with his hands wrapped around the blade’s edge. 

“Lance!” He lifted the tip to his temple as Shiro jumped up to pull the knife away from Lance. Keith helped hold him back, though it took both of their strength to keep him in place.

“Lance, please! You don't know what you’re doing! You’re hurting yourself!” Shiro tried to catch his eyes again to bring him out of it but they roamed across the faces of the team watching in horror.

“No, you’re right Shiro, that’d never work. I need….” He stopped at Coran, “A scalpel!”

“Lance, my boy, why don’t we just calm down for a second-,” Coran took a step forward, his hands up in a placating gesture. They needed to get control over this situation. Fast. It was spiralling downwards quicker than any of them could keep up with.

“Calm down?” Lance pulled against Shiro and Keith’s hold, “I can’t calm down! That’s like the last thing I want to do-! Ah! Mother trucker!” Lance stumbled forward, clenching his head in his hand. He looked like he was in pain. Yet he ignored the slash on his palm and the blood trailing down the side of his face from the scratch on his temple. The sudden shift in movement caused the brothers to move forward to try to support him, accidentally loosening their grip in the process.

Lance took the opportunity without hesitation, ripping himself from their hands with surprising speed and strength.

“I’ve got to go,” He started running for the door, “I’ve gotta get out of here,” Lance ran from the room, barely taking a second at the doorway to choose a direction.

Everyone followed after him, calling his name, trying to get him to just stop or slow down just for one second.

But Lance ran track every year in highschool and it showed. He sprinted down the halls, frantically turning corners and hastily choosing random directions.

“I can’t find it! Gah, I can’t f*cking remember! Where is it?! I have to get out!” He paused for brief second at an intersection before rushing down in the direction of-

Allura yelled on the comms as she chased after him, “PALADINS! Cut him off! He’s trying to get to the hangars! I don't think he knows what he’s doing! Be careful!”

Shiro ran through the hangar shortcut, pushing ahead of the group but still making sure everyone else was following him.

He reached the doors first, seeing Lance narrow his eyes when Shiro blocked the hangar entrance. 

But he didn’t stop. Didn’t even slow for a fraction of a second as he ran in a dead charge at Shiro.

He was a second away from tackling them both to the ground when Lance leapt to the side, making into the hangers.

Only to run straight into Allura. She grabbed him, harder this time, her alien strength easily gapping the difference. They couldn't afford to lose him now, not again.

Shiro saw the team come up the hallway behind him and turned to face Lance again, for all too many times in such a short period.

“Lance! Please, do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?” If Lance was having another panic attack, the team could agree that Shiro would be their best bet for getting him out of it.

“Of course I do, Shiro!” The hidden venom in Lance’s voice startled Shiro, “I’m stuck and lost in this freaking castle and I need to go!”

“Why? Please, Lance just stop for a seco-“

“I can’t stop! I have to keep going! Always! I have to keep moving and fighting and I can’t ever just stop! I haven’t been able to stop since you guys left me behind on that Galra ship 3 f*cking months ago!” He was breathing hard by the end of the yell, his words only seeming to catch up with him when the team gasped.

“Sorry Shiro, I didn’t mean-,”

“No,” Shiro hung his head a bit, “It’s okay, you’re right. We shouldn’t have left you behind.” They had all spent more than one night awake with guilt over what’d happened.

“Hardly, I chose to take that path and I chose to be on the other side. You did all you could.”

“Hermano, we should’ve-“ Hunk stepped forward with tears in his eyes.

Lance winced and grit his teeth, stumbling forward again before straightening harshly, “This is sweet and all but I’ve really got to go.”

“Why,” Pidge asked, her voice betraying the anger on her face for desperation, “We just got you back from the Galra and now you’re trying to leave! Why?!”

Lance’s eyes narrowed with a cold hardness to them, “Because they chipped me like a f*cking dog and I’d bet you they’ve already called Animal Control on my ass.”

Next Chapter: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/615697648649928704/chips-salsa-chp-3

First Chapter: https://snaileer.tumblr.com/post/613092735756402688/chips-and-salsa-chp-1

[theforgottendaydreamer]

in defense of Allura

Disclaimer: I do not accept any kind of hatred under this post. I expect all readers to act politely toward those who don’t share their opinion, and I expect you to expose your own ideas respectfully. Toxicity is forbidden on my blog. I don't hate any character, and this is just an analysis. Anything that stimulates a mature debate is welcomed, as long as you do it politely. Thank you!

The time has come. Long enough I’ve dwelled upon the choices that the writers of VLD have made, especially in the last seasons: in this post, I’ll focus on the decisions concerning Princess Allura. 

We were introduced to Allura in the pilot of the show, and it only took a few minutes- should I say doboshes?- to understand her overall personality. The Princess stumbled out of the pod, disoriented and confused, and only an instant later- the time necessary to snap out of her groggy state- she defended herself against a possible threat, being Lance in this case: she physically overwhelmed him with only a few rapid moves, her grip on him steady. Everything about her body language and verbal language screamed “strength”, in the following scenes as well. As she remembered about her father’s death, and about her homeplanet Altea being destroyed, the initial shock faded rather rapidly, and in a few instant she recovered from it. This doesn’t mean that if she hadn’t done it she would have been weak, not at all; it means that Allura, being a leader, knew how to put her feelings aside for a better situation, in order to better focus on the mission at hand.

It’s immediately clear to us that she wasn’t minimally interested in Lance’s advances: she considered him as a teammate, and later as a dear friend, but nothing more than that was  shown in the first seasons. When Lance got badly injured, she didn’t seem too worried- though she immediately jumped into action to secure the perimeter. A couple of episodes later, when Lance exited from the healing pod, she spoke to the teen kindly, relieved that he was alright. Yet, this is not a sign of being in love: all of us would be happy if a friend of ours who was at risk was said to be finally out of the woods. 

Allura was very practical, focused on her mission: she wanted to save the universe at all cost. At the beginning, her continuous arguments with the paladins may have given the impression that she was annoying and too strict, but she was simply driven by passion and desire to prove to everyone, herself included, that she could do the right thing for the universe. Though she never made it explicit, it was obvious that Allura cared about the opinion that the others had about her (even when she simply insisted on thanking the Arusians) because she tried to overcome her own insecurities by making herself as useful as possible to the cause. Even when she “just” flew the Castleship, she always offered her support and ideas to improve training, strategies and team bonding. 

Throughout the seasons, we learnt that Allura had the tendency to blame herself, like when she thought that the Galra were tracking the team through her, for example. Allura also threw herself into battle if it meant saving the others, like when she pushed Shiro out of the way and ended up prisoner, or when she saved the Balmera and risked her own health, pushing herself too far to do the right thing and help the innocents that she couldn’t protect during the 10’000 years of absence. So, according to the evidence we had collected in the first seasons, Allura was selfless and caring, despite everything. 

And then, just when we thought we’d seen it all, Allura became the paladin of the Blue Lion of Voltron (I’ll talk about this event in Lance’s p.o.v. in a different post, don’t worry). She was uncertain at first, but ready to dive head-first into the battle, willing to learn and improve her skills. Being an Altean, she immediately connected with Blue, and everything seemed rather easy; though at the beginning her piloting skills weren’t the best, she learnt in the matter of a single episode, and if you don’t consider it quick learning, then I don’t know what it was. Added to that, Allura was also talented, “progressing a lot faster than any of [the other paladins]”, as Lance said some time later.

When Keith confessed his Galra lineage, her attitude towards him was childish, but it was how someone would have normally reacted in a similar situation. People often have a hard time accepting someone that is unwillingly part of a group whose members caused them any harm; it’s one of the principles of racism, and that’s a synonym of ignorance as well. Human minds work like that, because we all tend to associate trauma with a certain group of people, or day, or any other input: it’s despicable, and sadly most people think like that. Luckily for all the Allura stans (me included, though I stan all the main characters of this show) she overcame this issue quickly. What I like about it was that she didn’t brush it off, but she apologised to Keith in person, evidently mortified for her behaviour, and after that she moved past it, accepting her friend and overcoming their differences happily. Mature people apologise, while childish ones pretend that their mistakes didn’t happen: by making amends for her mistake, Allura showed us just how mature she is for a 18/22 year-old (we do not have an official age, so my guess is as good as yours). 

Things seemed to be going well for her: she learnt how to better manipulate quintessence, she gave Keith space when he needed to find Shiro after his mysterious disappearance, she learnt how to better pilot her Lion and so on and so forth. It was all going well, until Lotor’s arrival: then, it all started to go downhill.

Lance became inexplicably obsessed with her again, and at the same time, Lotor slowly  manipulated Allura. Now, I don’t personally like Lotor since he willingly commits genocide for his own purposes, but I will not dwell further on the topic for it’s not my main discourse now.

Lotor tricked the Princess into believing him, she played into his hands, blinded by love. Mind that when I wrote “love”, my left eyebrow rose impossibly high. In fact, Allura had never shown to be interested in love; surely enough, she was romantically (and sexually, apparently) interested in people as we have witnessed, so the possibility of a love interest wasn’t odd at all. It was just sudden. Too sudden, for my personal opinion. 

The problem I have with Lotura (Lotor x Allura, and I specify because I had to google the ship name) is that it’s based on nothing. The team was wholly against Lotor, except for Shiro who was not himself, quite literally. Allura never gave any impression of trusting people easily: not only when Keith said that he was half Galra, but also when Shiro begged her to trust Ulaz. She was hesitant and not happy about having someone she didn’t trust on board. Thus, her sudden burst of trust toward Lotor was odd, especially when it was quite obvious to most of the audience that the Galra prince was not telling the whole truth. I also wish that we got to see more interactions between Pidge and Allura and Hunk and Allura in s6 and beyond, since they rarely talked anymore despite being on the same team. Even Allura’s interactions with Coran were so diminished in number that they looked like complete strangers in the second half of the series, and it hurt. 

I mark this point as the start of Allura’s downfall: from iconic character to mere love interest, which is not wrong at all per se, but it is when any other trait and development is purposefully ignored and forgotten by the writers “for the sake of the story”.

Thankfully, Allura seemed to recover quickly after Lotor’s betrayal (the scene when she flips him like a coin? Priceless), declaring all of her hatred towards the cruelties he’d committed and how he let her down irreparably. One good thing that Lotor did- and I have to admit that it was good-  was that he made Allura discover new abilities and become stronger, powers-wise speaking. Yet, all of this was secondary to her being a love interest with no other apparent purpose. Why do I say this? Because as soon as she got rid of Lotor, she got together with Lance, and to be honest it’s not quite clear to me how or why. 

I can’t deny that when I watched s1, I was an Allurance shipper; I was sixteen, a hopeless goofball who believed in all the clichés. Now, however, I do realize that Lance’s advances were annoying and obnoxious (and he’s my absolute favourite character, so this shows you just how honest I’m being, hopefully), and that I’m so grateful that Allura didn’t give in. At least, she didn’t do it at the beginning. In the last season, however, she fell in love with Lance in a single episode: when he asked her out, she seemed hesitant and only accepted because Romelle pushed her to give it a try. The dinner sequence was where Allura understood that Lance wasn’t the womanizer she thought he was, but I don’t believe that in reality that would have changed anything. You don’t simply fall in love in one evening only because your date’s family tells you that this person isn’t what they seem; in fact, that would worry me even more, personally, because it would mean that my date is a total stranger.

Lance’s “I love you” was not completely uncalled for, but simply very confusing: he seemed to be over her, but he became jealous when Lotor showed up. I tried so hard to see this as a “protective brother/friend” dynamic, but that sentence leaves no space for speculation (again, I’ll talk about Lance another time). What shocked me was Allura reaction’s to Lance’s confession.

She’d never looked at him with any kind of romantic interest, and even if some scenes may be seen as such (when she resuscitates him. And proceeds to hide it from the team. Yeah, another huge disastrous plotline), it’s undeniable that the Princess had trust-issues, and for a good reason too. That one time that she went against her team’s choice and trusted Lotor a bit too much, she got used and heartbroken. So why was she suddenly so in love with a boy that she’d always treated as nothing more than a good friend? My answer is: bad writing.

If Allura had shown any romantic interest in Lance for at least three consecutive seasons out of eight- to create a deeper connection- I would have taken it without complaining much. If Lotor hadn’t committed genocide and didn’t proceed to use Allura, I would have accepted Lotura too (friendly reminder that I don’t do ship hate unless ships involve rape, pedophilia and incest. So I’m not hating on Allurance and Lotura, though Lotor is a villain and I don’t like him, but that’s just my opinion). If Allura was allowed to be both strong and romantically interested in anyone, I would have taken it. But especially in s8, the writers erased her personality, turning a bright and iconic character into dating material. It wasn't fair to her nor to Lance, honestly.

The last straw was her sacrifice: Allura died to save the universe and since it was her main goal, I’m okay with it, though it hurt as she’s my second favourite character. What I didn’t like about it was that the villains got a happier ending than she did. Lotor, who committed genocide, got to live happily ever after with his parents, a violent conqueror and an abusive hag who ripped the universe apart to be with her son (I get it, mothers love their kids, but this is far too extreme). And furthermore, Lotor didn’t even like his parents, but still for some reason he was happy to be with them again, maybe because at least he got to spend eternity with someone that loves him despite everything. 

Allura, however, died without saying goodbye to Coran, the man who stayed by her side for all their- but also ours- adventures, the one who believed in her the most and who did everything to protect her. She died without getting a last look at the universe she left behind, at the people who weren’t there in her final moments but that cared for her and vice versa (Shay, Romelle, even Krolia. Even the mice, Kalternecker and Cosmo, really). Each character had about a half a minute to say their goodbyes, except for Lance, whose goodbye was the longest but also the least impactful, in my opinion. The writers played too much with the dramatic idea of it and the result was sloppy- as much as I love dramatic scenes, this was purposeless. 

Allura’s last act of kindness- as if saving the whole universe and every existing reality wasn’t enough- was gifting Lance with the Marks of the Chosen. Though, I’m not sure how to interpret it. In a fic I recently wrote, I theorised that “Allura gave you [Lance] these marks because she knew that you had greatness within, and they can actively remind you of it in your darkest moments [...]”. Of course, I’m far from sure that this is the real reason. My question is, was there even a real reason, or did Allura give him the Marks for dramatic purposes? If so, I’m glad that it wasn’t confirmed officially, because at least we get to make our own theories that surely are more satisfying than “we wanted fans to cry more”. Still, I see those marks as scars, and I will talk about it thoroughly in Lance’s analysis. 

In conclusion, I don’t think that Allura was bad at all. I think that, in the end, she was simply badly written, which is entirely different.

s1-s5 Allura was a strong, compassionate, empowering, trustworthy, bright, lovable and fun character and for that, she deserved a better- much better- ending. She’ll always be in my heart, and I hope that future reboots will treat her right. 

I will always remember Allura dearly. As Coran said in the final episode, “Just around this table I see so many lives touched by her actions. For some of us, she was a diplomat, a teacher, a leader, and a friend. But to those of us around this table, she will always be family”. Raising an imaginary glass, I just want to say... “To Allura”.

[calligraphist-artemisia]

1 | Celebration

Written for Kidgetober 2020. Day 1 - Free Day

Summary: AU - Canon divergence. Years after they free the universe from the tyrannical reign of Zarkon and Haggar, the Paladins find their own way to celebrate the times of peace.

Also posted on AO3 under the username Kishirokitsune. Titled as “The Scent of Autumn”.

- - - - - 

1 | Celebration

They held it every year without fail.

A grand celebration on the anniversary of the ending of the 10,000-year War with victory in the hands of the Voltron Coalition and all of their allies. As one of the (previous) Paladins of Voltron, Keith forced himself to attend every year, sticking around only as long as he had to before wandering off to be on his own and celebrate in his own way.

After the first year, he was joined by Pidge. And then Hunk. And then Lance. And finally Allura, Coran, and Shiro joined them and they formed their own little anniversary party on the Castle of Lions, where they would be left alone and could escape from the prying eyes of the public.

It was on their first “official” anniversary party that Allura broke out a bottle of Juniberry wine for them to enjoy and Keith found himself increasingly grateful for the privacy of the castle as the night went on. He cut himself off after just a few sips of his wine left him feeling lightheaded, but he was the only one.

Which meant he had the privilege of learning first-hand the type of drunks each of his friends were.

Lance was, unsurprisingly, a lightweight and his awful pick-up lines took a turn for the even-more-absurd with every sip he took. They were mostly directed at Allura, who became extremely giggly after draining her first glass in one go. (And Keith didn't know much about drinking, but he was pretty sure that wasn't the right way to drink wine.) He kept a close watch on them because the last thing he needed was for an inebriated Allura to fall for Lance's so-called charms and cause an incident when they were both sober again.

Hunk and Coran, at least, seemed to be able to hold their alcohol well, and though they got a bit louder and more enthusiastic the more they drank, Keith figured he didn't need to worry unless they tried to run off and test any of their ideas. Luckily, they seemed pretty content to stay right where they were.

Keith probably should have worried a bit more about Shiro, who was hit so hard by the alcohol that he could barely stand after the first glass. Keith helped him to a couch and left him there with a tablet that Pidge had, at some point, re-purposed for watching old Altean videos – most of which were a line of “how-to tutorials” created by a much younger Coran.

And then there was Pidge.

He had expected...

Well, Keith didn't actually know what he expected a drunk Pidge to be like but the reality of it was far beyond anything he would have considered for her, even in his most depraved dreams. (Because, okay, he was a young man and she was pretty and smart and one of the few women he got along with, so sue him for having the occasional dirty thought.)

She flitted around for a bit, first talking to Hunk and Coran and then taking a moment to tease Lance over some awful joke he made, throwing a pun of her own into the mix. She then spent a half varga watching the tutorials with Shiro, giggling as she continued to drink.

It was in the moment that Keith took his eyes off of her to watch whatever it was that was happening between Lance and Allura that Pidge struck.

“Keith,” she said, sounding a little breathless.

Keith blinked and looked to his right, where Pidge stood staring up at him. There was a rosy flush to her cheeks and her hair was bound up into a messy side-ponytail, which was an unexpectedly cute look for her.

She latched onto his arm and gently tugged him towards the center of the room. “Dance with me?”

Keith saw no harm in letter her pull him around. “I didn't think you enjoyed dancing. You always find an excuse to get out of it whenever there's some fancy party you have to attend.”

“Yeah because if I dance with one person then everyone expects me to dance with them. I have better things to do with my time,” Pidge grumbled. “Here it's only you and me.”

“I can't argue with that logic,” Keith said, fully understanding her discomfort and also a little flattered that, of all people she could have chosen, she wanted to dance with him. He smiled down at her as she twirled around to face him and would have fallen over if not for him reaching out to steady her. Pidge giggled and stepped closer, pressing her face into his chest.

“Uh, Pidge?” he asked, feeling heat rush to his cheeks.

Pidge mumbled something unintelligible in response and wrapped her arms around him.

Keith helplessly glanced around the room, but there was no one paying attention to what was happening between him and Pidge. He cleared his throat as he looked back down at her. “Um, so, I'm not sure how well we can dance like this.”

Pidge turned her face to the side so her voice was no longer muffled by his shirt. “What do you mean? We're already swaying together.”

He was starting to think that Pidge was more inebriated than he originally thought. Still, there was no harm in gently holding onto her until she got tired of “dancing” to no music and wanted to do something else.

A few minutes passed before Keith realized her breathing was starting to even out and that he was the one supporting all of her weight. “Pidge?” he asked softly.

She made a sleepy sound and held onto him a little more tightly.

Okay.

Keith could handle that.

Sleepy Pidge was much more manageable than the unknown of Drunk Pidge and was also something he was much more familiar with after all the times he'd found her napping in various places around the Castle and had to carry her back to her room.

“Lets get you to bed,” he said as he effortlessly lifted her into his arms, choosing to carry her bridal style.

Pidge giggled, her head lolling to a stop against her chest. She blinked up at him as he began to walk. For a few long minutes she didn't say anything, instead choosing to stare at his face until Keith was sure his cheeks were tinged pink from how awkward the situation felt.

“You have really pretty eyes.”

She's drunk, Keith reminded himself. She doesn't know what she's saying.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, thanks?”

“All of you is, like, unfairly pretty,” she continued. “Did you-” (She cut herself off with a giggle.) “-hey, Keith, did you know that I used to go watch you train just so I could stare at your butt?”

Keith did not know that, nor did he need to. It felt like such an invasion of privacy to let Pidge continue talking in her state, but was there anything he could do to stop her? Was there a part of him who, perhaps, was curious about what else she'd say if he let her keep going?

Blissfully unaware of Keith's inner turmoil, Pidge continued to talk. “I mean, that's not the only reason I'd go to training. It was at first, but after those first few fights I knew I really did need to train, but sometimes it was nice to sit back and watch you fight the training bots or go through those – what are they called again? Those basic stances, I guess. You always make it look so easy...”

“...Lance is completely wrong about your hair, by the way. Long hair is sexy...”

“...watching you throw Hunk around like he weighs nothing is just so... so...” Pidge made a sound to convey her feelings and it made Keith blush to his ears.

“We're here!” he interrupted before she could go further than that. He managed to nudge the control panel with his elbow and the door to Pidge's room slid open, the light flickering on as he stepped inside. He navigated the slight mess on her floor – much better than the early days of their time in the castle, when it was like stepping into a trash heap – and eased her down onto the bed, prying her fingers from her shirt.

“Stay with me?” Pidge requested.

“I need to go make sure Shiro and the others get to bed too,” he responded, avoiding the question. He carefully unlaced and removed her shoes, setting them aside where she could easily find them again, and then tucked her into her woolly green blankets. “Sleep, Pidge. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Promise?” she asked, amber eyes shimmering with trust.

“Yeah, Pidge. I promise.”

[flipping-voltron-imagines]

Hello! May I please request a scenario where keith is maybe too shy to kiss his s/o so he tries to awkwardly set up mistletoe? thanks!

A/N: yo this is straight up fluff and hopefully reciprocation of feelings. I love Keith~~

Word Count: 2198

“Merry Christmas, everyone!” Lance cheered as he burst into your apartment, arms full of presents he planned on giving to your friends.

You were in the kitchen, pulling cookies out of the oven. Everyone would be coming over to celebrate Christmas together, exchange secret santa gifts, decorate cookies, and spend time together. “You’re the first one here, Lance!” you called. After setting the hot pan of cookies down on the stove, you grabbed the next pan and slid it into the oven. After closing it and tossing your hotpad on the counter, you emerged from the kitchen and smiled. “How have you been?”

Lance shrugged and dumped his presents on the couch. “Alright, I guess.” He collapsed onto a beanbag in the center of the room. “When is everyone else getting here?”

“Soon, I think. Nobody had texted me to say they’ll be late, so…”

Lance pressed his lips together and nodded. “Cool, cool,” he mumbled. “You been busy today?”

“Kinda. I forgot about making cookies until just a few hours ago, when I was out buying decorations. Thankfully I’m almost done, and we can relax a bit.”

Looking around your decorated apartment, Lance commented, “Looks nice in here.”

When the doorknob rattled, you and Lance looked at the door. Soon enough, Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro entered the apartment.

A familiar warmth entered your heart when your friends entered your apartment. It had been a while since you saw them all together, and the relief that flooded your body caused your eyes to prick with tears. “Hey, everyone!” You hurried to embrace each of them, and when Lance commented that he felt left out, you have him a hug too. “I’m so glad you were all able to make it.”

“Where’s Keith?” Pidge asked. “Did he get here yet?” She put a small gift on the couch, next to Lance’s.

“Not yet. I’m not sure where he is, but he didn’t say he was running late.”

“I thought he would be the first one here,” Hunk commented. He and Shiro each placed a gift on the pile.

You nodded, lips pressed together. It had been a year since you last saw Keith. As far as you knew, he was helping the Galra rearrange their government. He contacted her on occasion, but there was no stable line of communication. Part of the reason why you decided to have a Christmas party was so that he would come and you could see him again.

Suddenly, your external attitude changed. You clapped your hands together. “Well, I have cookies we can decorate, but I think it would be fun to wait for Keith to do that.” If he shows up at all. “And then we can all watch a movie together. So until then, do y’all wanna play games while we wait?”

They decided on Uno, which was fun. Lance and Pidge seemed dead set on making the other draw as many cards as possible, all the while Shiro was quiet and trying not to draw attention to himself while he slowly ran out of cards.

You checked your phone every couple of minutes, sometimes feeling like your phone had buzzed on your thigh when there were really no messages. Anxiety began to claw at your stomach and reached for your heart to squeeze it. What if he didn’t come at all? Part of your plans for the future relied on him coming to the party. You planned on telling him how you felt about him - how much you loved and missed him - and if he felt similarly, you would adjust to be able to talk to him more. If he didn’t… you would move away and try to distance yourself from the group.

After an hour, you decided it was time to decorate cookies. If you waited much longer, you and your friends wouldn’t be able to watch a movie together.

As you opened your mouth to suggest you all move on, you heard a soft knock on the door. Your head whipped up to look at it, and before you knew it you had risen, opened the door, and felt your shoulders fall.

Keith stood there, giving you a small smile. He wore his usual clothing - a black shirt, jeans. His hair was a bit shorter than you remembered it being. “Hey, Y/N,” he said softly. “Sorry I’m late, I-”

Without a word you stepped forward and threw your arms around his waist. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around your shoulders and dropped his head down onto your shoulder. The two of you stood there until Lance commented loudly that it was getting cold. Then you let Keith go, grabbed his wrist, and tugged him inside, closing the door behind him. That wasn’t the reunion you’d fantasized about since the day you parted, but it wasn’t any less special.

“Now that the special guest -” you shot a teasing look at Keith, “- has arrived, let’s start the party!”

Keith removed his wrist from your grip and hesitantly reached for your fingers, but you started walking into the kitchen and out of his reach, oblivious to what he was trying to do.

Lance saw, though, and gave his friend a sympathetic clap on the back before moving into the kitchen with the rest of their friends.

Keith stood in the living room alone for a few seconds. He put a hand into his pocket and pulled out a small bundle of mistletoe. With new resolve, he followed his friends into the kitchen, reaching up to stick the mistletoe on the doorway as he passed. I can do this, he told himself. I can do this. I can… tell them how I feel.

While they decorated cookies - there were a lot, as the friends planned to visit old friends and some of their teachers from when they attended the Galaxy Garrison - Keith stuck close to you. The two of you worked together to make cookies look as good as they could. You talked to each other like you communicated regularly, like no time had passed since your last interaction.

Hoping you wouldn’t catch him, but also hoping you would, Keith snuck glances at you every minute or so. You had changed so much since he last saw you - not so much, but you definitely looked more mature and grown up and seemed more confident in yourself. You were so different but so the same. He wondered how much he changed in a year.

The one time you did catch him, you gave him a bright smile that took his breath away. Your own heart started thundering in your chest when you realized he had been looking at you. Faces red, you quickly looked back at the cookies you were working on.

“Keith look at this!” You held up a gingerbreadman-shaped cookie that was decorated to look like him. “It’s you! I even got your knife!” It was just a gray line on the cookie’s waist, but he was surprised you even took time to do that. When he saw the scowl she drew on his face, he smiled.

“It’s pretty good,” he commented.

You held the cookie up next to his face and took a picture. “You guys are twins! Not identical, though. You’re more handsome.”

“I’m glad I’m more attractive than a cookie,” he said dryly, hoping to cover up the way his heart thudded in his chest when you said he was “handsome.” It made him feel more confident in what he was planning to do at the end of the party.

“Much more.”

Across the table, Lance was watching the entire exchange. He stared at Keith with a sly grin and raised an eyebrow. When Keith looked up at him, Lance’s grin grew and he nodded.

You and your friends ate pizza for dinner, then moved to the living room to watch a Christmas movie. You sat between Keith and Shiro, drawing your knees to your chest, holding a cup of soda close to your body and swirling it to get the carbonation out.

During the middle of the movie, you found yourself looking around the room at your friends. Lance and Pidge shared a bowl of popcorn on the floor. Hunk sat on the beanbag, which had been dragged to the side of the room. You sat in between Shiro and Keith on the couch. A small smile tugged at the corner of your lips.

Keith leaned over and whispered, “What are you smiling about?”

You turned your head to look at him. Your breath faltered when you realized how close he was. “I’m just… happy.”

Keith nodded. He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, but quickly snapped it shut and returned back to his normal position.

That space, no matter how small, wasn’t something you wanted. He seemed to be avoiding touching you. So, you leaned into his side, wrapped your arms around one of his arms, and laid your head on his shoulder. Keith’s eyes only widened. He didn’t move the rest of the movie.

You wished he would.

When the movie ended, you and your friends talked for about an hour, then they all left - except Keith, who seemed determined to help you clean.

While Keith collected cups and plates from the living room, you cleaned up the frosting mess from the tables. The next day you would deliver them.

“Hey Keith?” you called, walking to the doorway of the kitchen. He was currently trying to pick up all the tiny popcorn pieces and kernels that Lance and Pidge had dropped in the carpet, putting the tiny pieces into the empty cups he’d collected.

Keith looked up with a questioning look, eyes looking a bit higher than where you were. “Yeah?”

“Are you going to help us out tomorrow? With taking these cookies to our old teachers?” you asked hopefully, sealing a bag of cookies in a decorated zipper bag.

“Uh…” Finally his eyes met yours. “Yeah. I’ll help.”

“Cool!” You sent him a smile. “Is there - is there something on the door frame?” Before Keith could protest, you were turning around and craning your neck to look at whatever he had been looking at. “Oh.”

Keith’s eyes widened. No no no…

“Who put this there?” you questioned. “Lance?” You threw your hands in the air and sent Keith a bewildered look. “Who’s he trying to kiss? Pidge? What the heck was he planning?” You pulled your phone out of the back pocket of your pants, groaning as you found Lance’s name.

When you were about to press the dial button, Keith launched up from the floor. “Y/N, stop,” he said calmly, despite his heart pounding in his chest. He walked to the door and reached up, pulling the mistletoe off the doorframe. “It was me.” Suddenly his ears started to burn.

“It was you,” you repeated, your voice losing its edge.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Keith swallowed thickly and shrugged. “I was… um… I wanted to-” He groaned and wanted to slam his head into the wall. Why couldn’t he just admit it? What was stopping him? He knew how you felt - it didn’t take a genius to notice all the signs you gave him. You gave him lots of chances. Regret started to flood his mind when he realized he should have just put his arm around you during the movie. Maybe if he’d done that this wouldn’t be so difficult.

You took the mistletoe out of Keith’s hands and held it up. “What? You wanted to what?”

Keith groaned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I wanted to kiss you!”

You blinked once, twice, three times - “You wanted to kiss me.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

You just stared at him, body frozen while inside your body and mind were doing flips and shooting fireworks. Stop repeating everything he says, you told yourself.

“I just - I - I love you.” His face turned a dark shade of red at his confession.

“You love me.” Stop it!

Keith nodded, looking at you expectantly.

Not able to quite process the confession he’d just made, you repeated again, “You love me.”

The hope in Keith’s eyes soon fell as his shoulders slumped. “Look, I’m sorry if I misinterpreted things. I thought you might… feel the same… You’re my best friend, and I um… I couldn’t imagine myself being with anyone else. So I - I’m sorry that I misinterpreted our friendship. I’ll… shut up and finish cleaning, then I’ll leave, okay?”

He started to turn around, but you grabbed his wrist and hurried to stand in front of him.

“Keith,” you said, voice barely louder than a whisper. “I love you too.”

Keith smiled softly and held both of your hands in his. “So… what-”

“Kiss me.”

The next day, Lance was not surprised when he saw Keith’s arm around your shoulders, or when you would press loving kisses to Keith’s cheeks or jaw. He was proud that the two of you had finally done something to progress your relationship.

And two weeks later, nobody was surprised when you announced that you would be joining Keith as he continued to help patch up the Galra empire. 

[olkarianprincess]

Can you write a shiro x pidge and one-sided Pidge x loter were there on opposite sides of the war Pidge is Gaara and betrothed to Prince lotor shiro is a pilot of Voltron

1

Huff. Huff.

Shiro doubled over the moment he rounded the corner. Inhaling as deeply and quietly as he could, he attempted to catch his breath. He couldn’t relax, though. They were still on his trail. The dark alleyway was a temporary sanctuary from the alien police force, but stopping also meant losing his momentum.

All too aware of the sweat pooling beneath his armor—of the painful tension in every muscle of his body—he waited in silence. The footsteps grew louder. Closer. In one hand, he clenched his bayard, ready to strike. In the other-

The sphere was gone.

Suddenly, everything melted away. The pain, the sounds, the worry of being caught—all gone. After all, none of it mattered if he had lost the one thing it was all for. Frantically, he searched the small satchel looped around his torso, and then the ground. The sphere was nowhere to be found.

And then there were footsteps.

On instinct alone, he spun around, but he was unprepared for what he saw.

At the end of his bayard was a single, cloaked figure. No police. No guns aimed for his head. Just an entity shrouded in darkness.

“I think you dropped this,” the mysterious stranger said.

Shiro paused before he looked down to their extended hand. A reflection caught his eye. Barely visible, beneath the shadow of a hood, he saw a yellow visor. Behind the visor, two piercing eyes.

And in the outstretched hand was the sphere.

Realization, followed by relief, swept into his body as the air did in his lungs. Without hesitation, he snatched the sphere and tucked it safely into his satchel. His eyes were only off the figure for a moment, but when he looked up, his strange ally was gone.

When Shiro peered out of the alleyway in hopes of spotting them, he saw nothing but the bodies of unconscious, bruised police littering the ground.

2

Music filled the grand room and, although he was certain it sounded like a fanciful masterpiece to the planet’s resident aliens, it was utter torture for Shiro’s human ears and acoustical tastes. Still, he forced a smile on his lips and waited, eyes glancing around the ball.

The wine, or whatever deep purple liquid it was that swirled about in his glass, wasn’t half bad, and he did recognize a few of the attendees. But Shiro was still bitter. This wasn’t supposed to be his mission.

Lance was the one that suggested they make a covert exchange with their informant. Lance was the one that insisted it had to be at a diplomatic ball. LANCE was the one that emphasized how much he wanted to go.

And yet...

Shiro tried to push away the bitter thoughts that attempted to take over his mind. He knew Coran had his best interests in mind. He also knew that he and Coran had very different ideas of what a “much needed relaxing break of a mission” looked like.

With a sigh, Shiro abandoned that train of thought and focused on finding his contact. Unfortunately, being a super secret matter of intergalactic importance, team Voltron got very little information on what their ally looked like. There was but one clue: the contact would wear a flower pin. They’d at least been given a photo. If they hadn’t, Shiro was certain that Matt would’ve gone on a full out rant about how disappointed Colleen would be that a group of intelligent aliens didn’t recognize not only how common flowers could be in decorative attire but what variety of flowers there are across inhabitable planets. Fortunately, the green lion’s paladin had only done a mini-rant.

Two hours into the ball, Shiro had seen no flower pin. Awkward conversations were plentiful, as were suspiciously jiggly finger foods. But no pin. With a sigh, Shiro pressed his back into the column behind him. He was about to contact Allura to see if the plan was a bust when something caught his eye.

Across the ballroom floor, in a perfectly tailored Galra-equivalent to a suit, stood a handsome gentleman with a gold flower pin on his chest. Wolfs-bane, Shiro recalled Matt saying. That’s what the flower resembled. He stared for but a moment, and startled when brilliant yellow eyes stared back.

A genuine smile on his lips, he moved swiftly across the dance floor. On the other side, his companion awaited with an extended hand. Warmth bloomed in his chest, as did a different feeling. Familiarity. He felt as though this was not the first time they’d met.

“May I have this dance,” Shiro asked as he delicately took the other man’s hand into his own, pressing a soft kiss to the back.

“That’s what we’re here for,” the Galra replied.

“Oh is it?” Shiro asked.

He would never tell his friends, but he was enjoying the opportunity to flirt with a pretty stranger. The Galra had a short, slim body, but was clearly in good shape. His mess of deep purple, puffy hair reminded Shiro of Matt, although Matt didn’t have two soft cat-like ears hidden beneath his cut.

“I thought a gentleman like you would be here for something else,” Shiro continued.

“Perhaps I’m here to meet a friend,” his dance partner replied.

“That makes more sense. For some reason, you don’t strike me as the kind of person to voluntarily attend these events.”

A delightful laugh spilled from the Galra’s mouth, forcing Shiro to turn his head away. It was hard to hide a growing blush when in close proximity with another person. So he switched tactics. The conversation changed, ebbing and flowing with the melody that surrounded them. Until, at last, the song ended.

“I think you dropped this,” his partner remarked with a grin.

Eyebrows furrowed, Shiro tried to decipher the words, but was answered by warm hands wrapping around his own. His heart skipped a beat and then his mind took over. The Galra drew away, but left something behind. Grasping the small device firmly, Shiro moved toward the edge of the crowd. He had to let Allura know that the data had been delivered.

3

Please be safe.

Shiro’s heart pounded heavily in his chest. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought the beat alone was shaking the cockpit of the black lion. They hadn’t been able to respond. The distress signal came just after Haggar’s forces launched a surprise attack. There was no way for them to respond.

Shiro prayed to whatever gods would help him that the city was safe. The Rodlians had been one of the first members of the Voltron Coalition. They didn’t deserve to be punished for that.

The black lion entered Rodlia’s atmosphere. As they descended, smoke obscured the lion’s screen, and Shiro’s heart raced faster. Prepared to launch straight into battle, he was overcome with dread when the city became visible and no enemy was spotted. The worst, it seemed, had already come to pass.

Landing roughly, Shiro sprung from his lion-ship, ready to do everything in his power to find survivors. But the streets were not littered with victims of war. Here and there, buildings suffered damage, but the citizens seemed to be in good health, if not tired. Spotting him, the city leader came forward.

“What happened? We were attacked and couldn’t get here in time. Did you defeat them yourselves?” Shiro launched into inquiry.

“It’s alright, son,” the older alien patted his leg.

Her head only went as high as his thigh, and yet her voice commanded respect. Instantly, he felt a little better.

“We’re alright. Lady Pidge came to our aid.”

A bony finger pointed in the direction of a cloaked figure, several yards away. Shiro thanked the leader and apologized once more (to which he got a gentle head shake in response) before heading over to greet the one called “Pidge.”

“Excuse me,” he called out.

The figure turned at the sound of his voice, revealing a familiar face.

“Lady Pidge?” Shiro sputtered, “Oh shit I’m so sorry, I called you a man before, I-“

Pidge, the handsome contact he had danced with at the ball, waved off his words with a smile.

“It’s fine,” she said. “I don’t care.”

“Ah, alright. Well, what are you doing here?”

“The Coalition sent me. I’ll tell you more, but it’s going to cost you.”

Once again, the Galra had thrown Shiro for a loop.

“What?”

Pidge pointed and Shiro followed the direction of her finger...all the way to his metal arm.

“Let me take a look at it?” she asked, an intense sparkle in her eyes.

“Oh, okay,” he responded with a laugh.

Warmth filled his chest as he trailed after her towards a laptop (of sorts) situated at the base of a statue.

4

“No fair! How come Shiro gets a secret admirer?!” Lance whined.

“Yeah! How come Coran lets Shiro have two girlfriends and I get none?” Hunk joined in, a huge smile on his face.

“Hunk,” Keith shot him a glare, “That’s biphobic.”

“Oh, you’re right Keith, my bad. How come Coran lets Shiro have a girlfriend and a boyfriend and I get none?”

Keith collapsed onto the couch with laughter at Hunk’s response and even Shiro couldn’t keep himself from grinning. He scooped up the package Coran had deposited on the table and turned to make his escape, sparing Allura a brief glance before he went. She looked...done, to put a word to it.

In his quarters, alone and away from prying eyes, Shiro gingerly opened the heavy metal box. Of course he knew it wasn’t a present from a secret admirer. That whole bit of drama was entirely a product of Matt’s desire to stir up trouble. But he still didn’t know what it was or who it was from. All Coran said was that someone from the Coalition had sent it.

With bated breath, and a quick prayer that there was not, in fact, a bomb inside, Shiro pressed the buttons on either side of the box and watched as it clicked open. Inside, delicately wrapped, was a thin holopad. He activated and it glowed with life, displaying the message:

Thought you could use an upgrade.

(PS: I’ve included installation instructions.)

And below the message was a little icon of some cute gremlin face with swirly glasses.

Shiro set the device to the side and opened the compartment below the first one. He almost cried when he saw the gift.

Inside was a brand new, clearly custom-made, prosthetic arm.

5

“I’m still not comfortable going into the heart of the Galra empire, invited or not,” Shiro stated as they approached the massive space station.

“I’ve gotta agree,” Matt said, although his voice lacked its usual carefree tone.

“Relax,” Allura assured, “now that Lotor’s emperor, we don’t need to worry about the Galra attacking us. At least, not the ones under his command.”

“Oh yeah and what about the other 40% of Galra that aren’t?” he heard Lance mutter.

Apparently Allura heard him too, as was indicated by the thump and yelp that followed.

“Lotor is gaining more and more of the Galra’s allegiance each day,” Allura reassured them. “I’ve heard a large part of it is due to the support for his fiancé. Many of the Galra feel more comfortable about his rule knowing they’ll be married.”

“Must be some lady. Or dude. Or, ya know,” Hunk added.

“Quite right,” Coran chipped in. “Maybe you’ll get to meet them.”

Further conversation was cut off by their arrival. Boarding the station was tense, but otherwise uneventful. As they walked through halls radiating with purple light, Shiro couldn’t help but make a pattern of clenching and unclenching his fist. It was an uncomfortable situation for all of them, but Shiro would be lying if he said it wasn’t worse for him and Matt. In truth, there were several thoughts on repeat in his mind keeping him sane.

First was the knowledge that they’d receive valuable access to Galra tactical data and technological schematics. He’d be able to study it and come up with better plans to free the universe. Second was the thought of getting to punch Lotor in the face, should the emperor step out of line. It was an unlikely situation, but the fantasy brought him joy. And like that fantasy, his third thought, of potentially running into Pidge again, kept him going.

Lotor greeted them outside of the throne room and Shiro focused on taking deep breaths while his friends questioned the new Galra ruler. He could barely process what everyone was saying. It was just another mission, he told himself. It would be over soon. Hunk asked about culture and Lance exclaimed something that sounded like “a nanny,” but the full conversation didn’t register in Shiro’s mind. They were being swept into the throne room, Lotor monologuing some nonsense, and light flooded through the opening of the heavy doors as they stepped in.

Shiro blinked once, twice, and then his gaze locked onto a pair of familiar yellow eyes. Warmth flooded his chest. A smile danced on his lips. The tension melted away and suddenly he found himself able to focus. It was just in time for him to hear Lotor say:

“And I’d like to introduce you to my fiancé, Lady Pidge.”

The yellow eyes that had met his quickly looked away.

[delaneytveit]

University AU - Lance!Baseball

So earlier I made a post about Lance being a baseball player, and I decided to ignore all of my responsibilities and instead just write this full fledged fic based on that post. Honestly I love the university au and I think I might do more, and have them all like connect. But only time will tell. So without further ado, please enjoy my little baseball au. 

(Also if you were wondering, everything in this that is baseball related is correct, I’m from a baseball family and have spent years scorekeeping for my little bro’s games, ironically this fic got a little away from me because I got so caught up in the baseball aspect of it. I'd apologize but honestly, I miss baseball so much and this gave me the dopamine I needed, so guess you’ll just have to deal with it. *insert Arianna meme about “what about it” here*) 

Lance getting a spot on the team was the second best thing that could have ever happened to him. Lance getting a starting spot on the team, that was the absolute best thing that could happen to him. Every practice, every skirmish, every drill just made him grateful for being a part of the team.

Yeah, the school’s baseball team wasn’t their prize sport, that fell on the football team. But that didn’t mean that it was any easier to get on, and even harder to get play time. So when Lance found out that he wasn’t going to spend his entire first season on the bench, let’s just say the boy saw God.

He just wished his friends were as excited as he was. When he first broke the news he got a few “wow, that’s cool.” or even “nice job Lance” but that was it. There was no genuine surprise or enthusiasm. It hurt, but knowing his friends, he couldn’t fault them. Not when Shiro was literally the starting Running Back for the football team, Hunk being the starting Offensive line, and Allura the starting forward on the girls soccer team. Pidge winning as many science awards as humanly possible, and Keith kicking ass in all his classes. Why would anyone care about some dumb baseball team?

Still he invited them to his first game, and though he hid how much it hurt when they didn’t show he still did extremely well. He made plays like they were second nature, which considering the 10+ years he’s been playing the sport, they basically were.

The longer the season went on, the less it hurt when they didn’t show. His mom, and some of his siblings would, and that’s what really matters. Some of his friends from class did, and that was nice. And his team was always there to keep his head in the game. He was grateful to have become close to so many of them.

Everything was going great, at least he thought they were.

They were having one of their study sessions in Shiro’s room, Keith and Lance studying chemistry while Shiro, Matt and Allura were studying for their Calculus 3 exam, and pidge and hunk doing some lab report for their molecular biology class. Keith was having trouble with one of the problems, huffing loudly every time he got stuck.

“You okay, man?” Lance asked, looking up from his notes.

Keith huffed again, “Yeah, I just can’t get past this fucking thing, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Lance leaned over to look at the problem, the lightbulb in his head lighting up full force when he recognized the question. He spent the next few minutes explaining to Keith how to approach the problem and walking him through it before Pidge interrupted.

“I thought you sucked at Chem!”

Lance laughed, “I do, but I had the same trouble with it, and my tutor taught me how to do it.”

“Since when did you get a tutor? I thought they were all too expensive?” Keith asked

“Um...the baseball team pays for a tutor for whatever class you need.”

“Wait,” it was Shiro this time, “You’re on the baseball team?” the entire room looked at Lance with a mixture of confusion and shock.

Lance reached up and rubbed the back of his neck before sighing, “Yeah, I told you guys the day the list came out.” he said simply, he didn’t know why, but he was starting to feel a little embarrassed about the situation. So he kept his eyes from looking directly at anyone. “I..um...even invited you guys to a few games at the start of the season…”

Pidge broke out into a fit of laughter, “What? No you didn’t!”

He didn’t mean to wince at her outburst, but he couldn’t help it. It hurt. And he was ashamed that he was able to show it so easily in front of his friends.

“Yeah, I did. You said something along the lines of ‘but it's literally soooo boring’” Lance let his shoulders sag before pulling his phone out of his sweater pocket and checking the time. “Honestly, its no big deal, but I do have to go. Got practice before the game tonight.” he quickly packed up his stuff and made a hasty retreat from Shiro’s room, mumbling his goodbyes.

The group sat in the silence for a few too many seconds. Their eyes trained on the door that their friend all but ran out of. How did none of them realize it? How did they not know? Lance, the guy who literally never stops talking, who’s so excited to share his most recent life update. If what he said was true, then what kind of friends were they?

Lance went to as many football and soccer games as he could to support his friends. Was always up for celebrating Pidge’s success, and never failed to congratulate Keith on his recent exam score.

Matt was the first one to speak, “Anyone else get the feeling that we’ve  royally fucked up?”

“What do we do?” his sister asked, it was clear that she was the one who felt the most guilty, she remembered saying just that to Lance. She didn’t mean anything with it, she was just talking, and it was true, she didn’t really like baseball. But he seemed so hurt by it.

Shiro got up and took his phone off of the charger that sat on the other side of his bed.

“Shiro?”

“I’m checking the game schedule.” He said, typing into his phone. “He has a game in two hours.”

Everyone took that as the deciding factor. They were going to continue studying for another hour before heading down to the baseball field. They were finally going to watch their friend play.

It was much too easy for Lance to forget everything that had happened in his friend’s room once practice started. He went through the drills and ran his laps with a clear head, his teammates joking along with him.

He was way too engrossed in practice that he didn’t even notice his friends make their way to some seats behind home plate, snacks in hand.

They watched him through practice, none of them really knowing what was happening.

“They all look the same.” Keith grumbled, “Which one is he?”

Hunk looked at the program he had managed to grab on their way in, “Number 15, damn, apparently he’s starting short stop and plays 2nd and Left field!”

“I’m going to be honest, Hunk” Shiro laughed, “But 90% of us don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hunk joined in on the laugher, taking a bite out of his warm pretzel which definitely needed more salt “All you guys need to know is he’s really good.”

Hunk was right, once the game started, it was clear that Lance was insanely good. The times that a ball was hit to him, you could count on that guy getting out. He never dropped a catch, all of his throws were precise and even from where they sat, they could hear the power the ball held once it hit the target glove.

“Coming up to the plate, Straight from Varadero Cuba, Shortstop and Second Baseman, #15 Leandro Serrano!”

Hunk leans forward, his attentiveness surging everyone else to do the same as they watched Lance swing his bat a few times before stepping into the box. He swings his bat a few more times keeping his eyes on the pitcher as he finally settles into his stance.

The first pitch was much too low, Lance knew it the moment it left the pitcher’s hands. “Ball” he heard the umpire behind him. He waited patiently, the guy wasn’t throwing hard, and honestly if he wasn’t so focused he probably would have smiled. If the guy were to throw at the right height, he’d have no problem launching the ball out into the outfield bringing in one, maybe even two runs and leaving him on second.

The next pitch was a little outside, but he knew if he were to skip this one it would be counted as a strike anyways. He watched as his bat tipped it and sent the ball flying to the left, never crossing the foul line. He took a step back to shake it off, loosen up his muscles before reentering the box and taking his stance back up. He heard the count, 1-1 as he did so.

Somehow, he knew the next pitch was his. Something in his stomach just told him that no matter what, he had to swing. So he did, timing it perfectly he watched the ball make contact and fly off of his bat. The second it did so, he dropped the bat and ran to first, looking up as he rounded the base just in time to watch the ball completely clear the back fence. He never stopped running as he kissed the necklace that hung around his neck and pointed a number one up to the sky, the stands erupting into complete joyous chaos as player after player crossed home plate safely.

No one was expecting to see something like that. To say that the group of teens were surprised was an understatement. They cheered and remained in awe of their friend, who seemed so in his element on the field. The first two pitches made them anxious, but the third, man the third sent all of them out of their seats as they joined the rest of the stands to celebrate what the announcer stated as a three run homerun.

As the game progressed, it became evident that Lance was one hell of a player, catching three fly balls, starting three double plays, and launching a throw from left field all the way to home, just in the nick of time to get the runner out.

In the end, Altea U won with a score of 8 while University of Galran made out with a measly 2.

The group of friends waited outside the locker rooms, still jittery from the excitement of the game.

“Who was it that said that baseball was boring?” Keith joked, poking the clearly excited Pidge in her side.

“Hey! All I know of baseball comes from the few times I would walk in on my grandpa watching it on TV, and it was definitely boring then!”

A few minutes later, the team exited the locker rooms, still dressed in their uniforms, but in a much more casual way. They quickly spotted Lance, his jersey unbuttoned and showing his light blue undershirt, shouldering his bag, with a bat in hand. He was joking with some other guys as they walked before he heard his name.

 “Lance! Lance!” 

“Yoooo, you guys came?” He walked over to them, no one missed the way his eyes held a different, happier kind of light. 

Everyone took their turns hugging him and congratulating him on his game, and he'd be lying if he said he didn’t feel like crying of happiness right now. His friends were here, they had seen his game, they sat in the stands and watched him play. It was such an unreal feeling. 

“Dude, how come you never told us you were a fucking beast?” Matt all but yelled, pulling Lance into a tight hug. 

“No wonder you guys are undefeated, they had no chance!” Shiro exclaimed, clamping his hand on Lance’s shoulder. 

In the end, they decided to go out for some cheeseburgers in honor of Lance’s win. Everyone hopped into Shiro’s car, and those who didn’t - Keith, went with Lance. They had walked to the car in silence, not completely awkward, but one that Keith at least thought was a little unsettling. But whenever he looked up at Lance, that stupid beaming smile of his, it pushed the uneasiness away.

 “...You know...that first hit...that was awesome” He said, sliding into the passenger seat as Lance put his bag in the trunk. He almost thought the boy did hear him- almost. Lance quickly slid into the driver’s seat, buckled his seat belt and started the car before turning to Keith.

“Thanks man, honestly I’m so glad you guys got to see that!”

 The burger place they chose wasn’t too far, and soon they were all taking a seat at a table, laughing and joking. Lance being his goofball self. He had just told the most obnoxious yet hilarious joke that had the entire table keeling over in laughter when the cashier called his order number. Keith watched as Lance got up and walked to the counter, he hadn’t even noticed what he was doing until Pidge elbowed him in the ribcage. 

“Baseball pants, right?” She asked jokingly, sending the entire table into another laughing frenzy and Keith’s cheeks an embarrassing red. 

[dreams-of-kalopsia]

The Logic of Them

Summary: On Pidge’s graduation day, Lance hands her a tablet with a video that would change her life.

A @plancesecretsanta 2019 fic for @ursamiiinor. Merry Christmas, Dia! Sorry for the delay. Here’s your college AU gift fic! ^u^

Read it on AO3.

----

Lance handed Pidge a tablet, and she stared blankly at the device. “What do I do with this?”

He arched his brows at her. “What do you usually do with tablets, Pidge?”

“A lot, so just tell me which one I should do.”

“Everyone wanted to congratulate you,” he finally explained, securing a pair of earbuds in her ears before taking the seat beside her. “I compiled their greetings into one video since most of them can’t make it today.”

“Oh.” Pidge edged closer to Lance and gave him her other earbud so they could watch the video together. She was excited to hear from everybody again.

Two years ago, Shiro had qualified as an astronaut candidate and had left to train for space travel. While she heard from him regularly, and while she also got updates on his training from Matt, who’d become an astronaut before Shiro, she still looked forward to seeing how he’d been.

Meanwhile, Hunk had returned to his hometown last year to apply everything he’d learned about green engineering. Same for Keith and Allura. Only Lance had stayed from their batch, and only Pidge, a year younger than them, was left to graduate a year later.

The video started with everyone—from friends to family—in their video squares, congratulating her for graduating. She beamed instantly. All the people she loved, close at hand despite being far away.

Keith’s square zoomed in to its full size.

He frowned at the camera. Or the one behind it, most likely. “I go first?"

Pidge heard Lance’s hushed “Yeah. Just go say something.”

Keith huffed, crossed his arms, then began: “Pidge and Lance aren’t the typical couple. They don’t hold hands. They don’t go on dates. They’re literally best friends who label themselves as a couple. Their announcement was so sudden it didn’t even sink in for five minutes.” He glared. “Who announces something like that as if they’re just going out to get food, anyway?”

“Did it seem like that?” Lance asked from behind the camera. She had the same question in mind, so she tried to remember that moment.

* * *

Even though she was focused on editing a code due in fifteen minutes, Pidge could feel Lance’s nervousness rolling off of him from the couch across from her. She couldn’t understand why he was so tense; she was pretty sure they’d been obvious with their feelings these past few months that the others wouldn’t really be surprised. Still, she shot him a reassuring look, knowing that that would calm him down. It did, as always. It practically worked like a charm.

He called everyone’s attention with a “Hey, guys?” She felt him falter. She glanced at him and met his questioning eyes. “Let’s tell them, Pidge?”

“Sure.” Another reassuring look his way, and she was lost in her code again, typing at full speed to meet her deadline.

“Tell us what?” Hunk asked absently between chewing noises.

“We’re in a relationship now. Well, have been for two months.”

Pidge didn’t notice the complete silence until she’d pressed the enter key to send in her work. She looked up then, finding astonished, dumbfounded expressions on everyone’s faces and utter confusion on Lance’s—an expression that no doubt matched hers.

“What?” she asked, her question reverberating in the still silent living room of Shiro and Keith’s shared apartment.

“What?” Allura asked back.

“What ‘what’?” Lance asked back, too.

And they all stared at each other in more confusion.

* * *

“And yet,” Keith continued, recalling Pidge from her recollection, “somehow, they made sense.” He smiled, and the video switched to Hunk.

“I introduced them,” Hunk said smugly, making her chuckle. His grin was as bright and warm as the summer view behind him, if not more. “Pidge and I were classmates in this course that required a thesis-level project—I mean, who does that?! Our university, apparently, but I digress.”

He shifted in his seat, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “So. Eve of our deadline and we’re stressed out of our minds. Local pizza shack about to close. What did I do? I snuck her into our dorm. My best mate and roommate Lance—bless you—”

“Thank you,” came Lance’s distant voice.

“—opened the doors from inside after curfew, quick introduction, then Pidge and I were back at work. Aaand…” he drawled. “I don’t know if she’d ever realized, but the nickname ‘Pidge’ wasn’t actually ‘Pidge’.”

“Oh no. No no no no. Hunk, don’t say another word,” Lance’s disembodied voice had taken on a warning tone that Hunk, as his best friend, easily disregarded.

“Pidge, you hearing this? That night you met each other and you had your full snark on? He called you a bi—” A hand, obviously Lance’s, clamped over Hunk’s mouth before he could finish.

The video switched again, showing a slightly disheveled, post-laughter, but more formal Hunk. “I’ve been informed that some very important people might be viewing this. I apologize for the rowdiness you witnessed a few seconds prior.”

Pidge paused the video to smirk at the not-camera Lance by her side. “You dared call me something remotely derogatory, Lance?”

His face paled a bit before darkening with a blush. “W-We didn’t have the best first impressions of each other, Pidge.”

When he avoided all her efforts to establish eye contact, she burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, I knew from the start.”

“Wh-Really?”

“Anyone with clean ears will pick up on your noisy grumbling, you know?”

“Oh. Sorry for calling you that, Pidge.”

She shrugged. “It’s fine. The nickname that came from it stuck, anyway.”

He grinned at her, then motioned for her to continue watching.

“For people as dramatic as Lance and as explosive as Pidge, they sure are quiet as a couple. They’re honestly the most boring couple out there.”

“Hey!”

Hunk’s hands went up in a placating gesture. “Hey, don’t get me wrong, man. You guys are two of the coolest people I know. But nothing ever happens with you two! Remember that time Pidge got her appendix removed and she was coming out of her anesthesia-induced coma?”

Pidge tried to recall it. There wasn’t much that happened; the surgery was a success, and Hunk was the first person she found upon waking up, watching over her from a bedside chair.

“Pidge asked where you were, and I thought she was still loopy from the anesthesia so I said, ‘Who do you think gave you your heart?’ And she just stared at me blankly in her trademark way that told you she can’t comprehend what you’re saying, so if you can please say something with a minimum IQ level of one hundred. Then she said with perfect articulation, ‘I had an appendectomy, Hunk, not a heart surgery.’” Hunk looked at the camera, at her. “You could be in the middle of a brain surgery and still hack into the national security systems.”

Laughter bubbled right from her belly. She missed Hunk and his humor so much.

“Anyway, so I told Pidge the truth that Lance was out getting food for her visitors, and then she fell asleep on me. Hence my point stands: boring couple.” He sighed and shook his head in mock disappointment.

What he didn’t know was that his joke had a delayed effect on Pidge, because she could remember bawling when she saw Lance for the first time after her surgery.

“But if boring means no drama means stable, then it’s a blessing that my best buds have the most boring relationship ever.”

With one last salute from Hunk, the video showed Shiro next. Pidge’s chest swelled with pride upon seeing him in a NASA shirt. Like her father and brother, he wore the brand well.

“Lance and Pidge argue often, but rarely do they fight. When they do, strange things happen. Trees in the College of Engineering would seem less vibrant, and the fountain near the College of Letters and Science would stop spouting water. Thanks to Hunk’s talent for goss—” Shiro caught himself, smiled sheepishly, and corrected, “—storytelling, it has since become an urban legend that when the fountain suddenly dries up and the trees along the path to Engineering look like they’re wilting, a student from either college got into a fight with someone they really love from the other college.

“The simple and logical explanations for these rare phenomena are that tired students have altered perceptions of their surroundings, and that the malfunction in the fountain’s pipes just happens to coincide with the equally rare times that Pidge and Lance fight.” He leaned in towards the camera with a conspiratorial smirk. “Here’s my secret though…” He paused, and Pidge held her breath in anticipation. “I don’t think the real explanation is as simple or logical as that.”

The next person to appear caught her off-guard. He wasn’t in the opening greeting, so she figured he was a last-minute addition. It didn’t keep the smile from tugging at the corners of her lips, though.

It was Dr. Smythe, her thesis adviser.

“Pidge—no, Katie Holt, or as I prefer to call her, Number Five, as my fifth consecutive award-winning undergraduate thesis advisee,” he said as a long preamble, stroking his mustache in his own way of preening, “elevates everything she does to unprecedented levels: her classes, her thesis, her contributions to our academic research, her overthinking, and her neglect of herself when in pursuit of something that piques her interest—unintentional, I’m sure, but neglect nonetheless.” Even though she’d just shaken her adviser’s hand as his friend instead of his student not three hours ago, Pidge felt scolded like a kid.

“Worried as I was for her well-being her whole thesis process, I did something unforgivable for an adviser to do!” Dr. Smythe took a dramatic breath that had Pidge’s heart stopping in shock. “I withheld information from my protégée!”

He did what?! Would it affect her thesis, her graduation, her future prospects?!

“I told her there was no way to cut the runtime for one of our computers, when in fact she could have cut it down by a third, or even half! Ah, forgive me, Number Five!” He grabbed the camera by the sides and cried into it in all his genius eccentricity. “I did it for your sake! You never take breaks outside of that waiting time; it was the only time your lover could help calm your nerves!”

Pidge felt her face heat up.

“‘L-Lover’?!” Lance sputtered. The camera’s angle straightened; Dr. Smythe must’ve let go of it now.

Her adviser leveled an odd look where Lance was off-cam. “Yes! Aren’t you her lover? You’ve been lurking outside the labs the whole year.”

“Ye—I mean—To call me that so directly…”

Dr. Smythe pulled on his mustache once. “Get used to it, young man.” And then the video switched again.

It was an abrupt ending for her thesis adviser’s part, but Pidge all but forgot about him when she saw Allura beaming at her.

“Hi, Pidge,” Pidge’s best friend and only childhood friend greeted with a wave. “Congratulations again on graduating. Oh, I miss you so much!” Pidge’s fingers traced Allura’s face ever so lightly on the tablet. She missed her friends—her family outside of her family—so much it almost hurt. “I’ve been asked to say something about you and Lance as a couple.”

“Something good, preferably,” video-Lance quipped, earning a laugh from Allura. She glanced somewhere off-center, probably at where Lance had been filming.

“Alright. Something good, then. Some thoughts I’ve kept in my heart for as long as I’ve known you both.

“You couldn’t be more opposite to each other—gods know how you damage our ears with your bickering. And yet you work perfectly together when it mattered most. You balance each other out. Lance, you lift Pidge up whenever her realism bordered on pessimism. Pidge, you tether Lance whenever his head starts floating to the clouds with his easygoing optimism. Lance is the people-person—I’m sure we all agree on that?” Allura confirmed, teasing eyes looking straight at the camera. Pidge giggled and nodded. “While Pidge understands the world, and perhaps even the universe, at its core.

“Pidge learned from a young age how to build walls to defend herself from envious people who want to drag her down. But Lance, with your big family, you’ve learned how to deconstruct them in order to connect with others.” Allura’s eyes welled with tears, and Pidge’s mirrored them. “You’ve met and challenged Pidge on all levels, Lance. I’m so happy she’s finally found her match in you.”

The camera caught a sniffling sound. “Thanks, Allura.”

Allura’s video cut off with her smiling and dabbing her cheeks with tissue.

Lance’s parents came next, congratulating Pidge enthusiastically and inviting her to their home for a graduation feast.

“Our son brags about his many former girlfriends, but… you are the only one he has ever taken home,” his mother said, the gleam of mischief in her eyes.

“Mom!” Lance whispered harshly. “You gotta give a better message!”

“Let me try.” The camera shifted a bit to focus on Lance’s father. “Our son has had trouble finding his place, being the youngest among his siblings. He told us that you put him in his place, when you met. He said because of that, he found his place and could finally move forward.” The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as he smiled. “Thank you, Katie.

“Is that good, son?”

“Yeah… Yeah. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Dad.”

Pidge could see where this was going—or at least, where it could possibly go. The montage of everyone congratulating her at the start may just be a façade. But since Lance was still in his seat, not fumbling for a tiny box or kneeling on the ground, she couldn’t be sure.

That was until Matt’s face appeared. Then her tears started falling. Because this was her family next. Whatever they had to say about her and Lance would greatly affect their relationship. This was their time to frankly voice out their issues with either of them, and yet Matt was grinning.

“You got me at a good time,” he told the off-cam Lance, who chuckled.

“Three days before launch. I’d say I’m still great at crunch time one year after graduating.”

Matt laughed before turning to the camera. “Hey, Pidge! Congrats on graduating!” His smile turned apologetic. “Sorry I can’t be there to watch you walk on stage and shake hands with people you’ve probably never met your entire college life.” He stopped and waggled his eyebrows expectantly; he knew she’d laugh at his joke. The apologetic smile returned. “And sorry for taking Dad here with me. We need his supervision for the new docking procedure we’ll be trying out. Give Mom some space hugs for me, will you? And if you ever need advice… you can consult Dad’s favorite book any time.” He winked, and she received his secret message successfully.

“Okay. On to matters I’d rather not talk about.”

“Matt!”

Matt’s carefree guffaw made Pidge’s heart ache for her brother’s presence. She mentally calculated the time elapsed since his crew’s launch. Their rocket should be orbiting Earth right about now, preparing to align with the International Space Station.

“I would never forget your first dinner with us. I can tell you really wanted to impress us with your research in the fields we specialize in. But that wasn’t what ended up impressing us. It was how you managed to hit on Mom after you ran out of things to talk about regarding our specialties.”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” Lance protested, and though Pidge couldn’t see him, she knew that the Lance behind the camera was blushing hard. She glanced at the Lance sitting next to her, sending him an amused—albeit tearful—smirk. He returned a sheepish grin.

* * *

“You’ve gone silent, Lance,” Mom said as she sliced her steak.

Lance stiffened. Pidge knew how much he wanted to leave a good impression on her family. So far, so good. Everything they’d rehearsed, as well as the crash course she’d given him, was paying off. But for some reason, he didn’t seem to think so and had stopped participating in conversations.

“Oh, um…” He swallowed, drank water, then swallowed again. “M-Must be in my genes to be speechless in the face of beauty,” he blurted out in one breath.

The whole table went silent. Awkwardly silent for a full ten seconds. Lance’s face was dark with mortification, Pidge’s family was sitting thunderstruck by his response, and Pidge was starting to wonder if organizing this dinner had been a mistake.

But then Mom and Matt burst into laughter, Dad following suit.

“Sorry, son,” Dad said, regarding Lance a little more warmly than a few seconds ago. “Colleen is spoken for. May I introduce you to my daughter Katie instead?”

The wide smile that spread across Lance’s lips seemed to chase away his embarrassment. He looked at Pidge with bright eyes, and her heart temporarily forgot its rhythm. “I’d love that, Sir.”

* * *

“I know,” Matt assured with a chuckle. “But that accidental thing showed us that you specialized in your own field, too. In building connections with people.

“Pidge—Katie has never been good at making friends. I think only Allura was stubborn enough to get through to her, and it took years. You changed that. You helped my sister expand her world. Now, you mean the world to her.” He directed a kind smile slightly to the left. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you are her world.”

His eyes softened, then he stood from his seat, opening his arms. After a few moments, Lance appeared on-screen to return the hug. The sight brought fresh tears to Pidge’s eyes.

“I leave her in your care, brother,” Matt said. “She’ll probably argue that she can take care of herself. She’s right about that, but it’s still reassuring to know she’s in good hands either way.”

Lance sniffled twice before replying, “Thank you, brother.”

Matt clapped Lance’s back. “No problem. Now let’s look for tissues before the staff suspect you’re infecting me with colds.”

They both snickered.

When the video switched to her parents’ smiling faces, Pidge’s hands became damp with sweat and her heart began to pound. She knew they’d already given Lance their blessing, seeing as this video existed, but this would be the first time she’d be hearing what they thought about her relationship with Lance.

The first thing she noticed was their clothes. They were wearing the unexpectedly awesome sweaters Lance’s grandmother had knitted for them last Christmas. A lump formed in her throat at the realization; she had to lower her voice so she could still speak with words instead of inarticulate sobs.

“How long have you been planning this?” she asked, eyes not straying from the screen.

“A while,” Lance answered just as quietly.

“Congratulations on your graduation, Katie,” Mom greeted.

“We’re so proud of you, Katie. So proud,” Dad added.

“You must have figured out what this video is really for by now,” Mom continued, to which Dad nodded.

“You must have deduced that we’ve given our blessing as well.”

“All that’s left for us to do is endorse this young man…” At Mom’s cue, Lance peeked from the corner of the screen and waved. “…to you.” Pidge glimpsed the obvious signs of nervousness on his face. It carried over to her as she waited for her parents’ “endorsement” of Lance.

“Lance came from a completely different background from us. He didn’t know anything about astrophysics, molecular biology, or computer engineering more than any other layperson did.” Pidge winced at Mom’s knowing smirk. “Don’t try to deny it, young lady; we know you two planned out what he would be talking about with us the first time he came over.”

Dad chuckled. “Lance hadn’t always been able to keep up with our discussions, but he was always willing to learn. He strived to see things from your perspective and understand you better. I’ve never seen you more patient than when you would explain a concept to him, Katie.” He glanced at Lance. “I’ve never seen a more receptive student, either.”

He redirected his gaze to the camera, smiling gently at Pidge. “You told him about the universe, showed how galaxies worked, demonstrated gravitational forces, and explained why the sun, moon, and stars existed. I hope you wouldn’t wonder too much how he realized he has fallen into orbit around you.”

Lance’s hand slipped into hers as the video faded out. Pidge felt something press onto her palm. She felt a ring press onto her palm, and she almost started crying again. Instead, she took a deep, shaky breath to calm the tumult of emotions within her. Lance remained patiently quiet by her side. They watched the flock of graduates and guests in front of them in the meantime, the cacophony of congratulations and goodbyes and promises to keep in touch filling the silence between them.

“You’re not getting down on one knee?” she teased eventually, once she was confident enough to speak.

“I could,” he replied, “but do you want me to?”

“No, actually.”

“Thought so.” She could hear the mirth in his voice. The sound calmed her down further.

“Everybody won’t be satisfied with anything less than showy, though.”

He hummed in thought. “I’ll consider it.”

“Maybe they’ll even make you do something Matt and Shiro will see from space.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “It all depends on your answer.”

She turned towards him, willing him to meet her eyes. “You already know my answer.”

When he did, she was struck anew by how his eyes shone with everything he didn’t need to tell her out loud, and how they regarded her with understanding, and how absolutely, breathlessly beautiful they were. “I want to hear it anyway.” Like the hue of a clear day. Like the shade of a calm sea. Like the color of love. “Will you marry me, Pidge?”

Pidge twined her fingers around Lance’s, beaming up at him. “You know I will, Lance.”