#but I have a small soft spot for klance so I let him have some wiggle room

[queerquintessence]

heyo

so i recently have been obsessed with the idea of the voltron paladins living in the same house together sooo

i may or may not have spent the last like 3 hours working on headcannons

the characters in the house are keith, lance, hunk, pidge, and allura

(since they’re all relatively similar in age)

so sadly no shiro or coran but

anyway

yeah here they are

(once again a bit unorganized but it’s whatev)

• first off allura and lance are both housewifes

• and neither of them take any shit from the others

• allura: keith, could you pick your feet up? i’m trying to vacuum down here

• keith, sitting on the couch: couldn’t you just do it later

• allura:

• allura: move your feet or i’m telling lonce you have a crush on him

• hunk does the dishes most of the time because he’s mainly the one who cooks their food

• but they also alternate on a schedule

• lance, sighing dramatically: i do everything around here! keith, when was the last time you washed the dishes?

• keith: i literally washed them last night

• lance: well you missed a plate so it doesn’t count

• keith takes out the trash a lot except he doesn’t wear shoes so his feet are always dirty

• lance yells at him for it

• whenever lance takes out the trash he puts on whoever’s shoes are closest

• pidge: lance are those my shoes?

• lance, tiptoeing in sneakers that are 3 sizes too small: maybe

• the couch that they own is too small to fit everyone

• they either argue for 10 minutes over who gets to sit where or they just pile on top of each other

• pidge usually lays on top of someone’s lap when it gets crowded

• she can just flop on top of someone and they’ll just let her- no words spoken

• keith sits on the armrests and everyone gives him shit for it

• lance: aren’t you uncomfortable?

• keith: i like sitting here

• lance: alright edgelord

• lance lays with his legs sprawled on top of the couch

• sometimes pidge will lay on lance who will have his legs on keith

• hunk is fine with sitting on the floor but even he’ll start arguing over the good spot on the couch

• hunk: lance, buddy, you sat there last time- why not give someone else a turn?

• lance: hunk when was the last time you did your own laundry? huh. that’s what i thought

• dinners pretty chaotic

• that’s usually when they have their debates

• lance, pounding his fist on the table: mac and cheese is to be eaten with a fork and that’s that

• pidge: why the hell would you use a fork? spoons are just fine in my opinion

• keith, silently munching on his food knowing he eats it with a knife:

• pidge: alright, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room

• everyone:

• pidge:

• pidge: keith, you gotta stop putting corn syrup on your peanut butter sandwiches it’s fucking weird

• allura: everyone in favor of limiting lance’s shakira privileges say I

• keith, pidge, and hunk: I

• lance, who’s totally offended: wh

• luckily, they all have their own rooms

• except the walls are super thin

• lance scream singing beyoncé: GOT ME LOOKING SO CRAZY RIGHT NOW YOUR LOVES GOT ME LOOKING SO CRAZY RIGHT NOW

• keith: why has god forsaken me

• even when they try to play music relatively quiet it can still faintly be heard

• muffled music from keith’s room: when i was, a young boy

• pidge: HA fucking EMO

• they all have Alexa’s in their rooms

• and pidge has access to all of them on her laptop

• pidge: psst- hey lance, watch this

• pidge: *fast typing on laptop*

• blasting from keith’s room: COUNTRYYY ROAAADS TAKE ME HOOOOME

• muffled keith screaming: pIDGE I SWEAR TO GOD

• in the morning during breakfast

• allura: why has lonce not come out of his room yet?

• pidge: hang on, i’ll wake him up

• lance’s alexa in the distance: I’M A GOOFY GOOBER YEAH YOU’RE A GOOFY GOOBER YEAH

• lance’s startled scream is then followed by a loud thud

• once a week they have a movie night

• keith: lance i am not watching a cheesy romcom for the 2nd week in a row

• lance: i have to listen to ‘welcome to the black parade’ eighteen times a day sit the fuck down

• keith, crossed arm for the duration of movie night: this love story is completely unrealistic

• everybody shushes him on cue

• they also have monthly sleepovers in the living room where they giggle like middle schoolers

• keith knocks over an entire bowl of popcorn

• allura discovers the concept of a pillow fight and effortlessly knocks everybody to the ground

• lance flops on the air mattress and launches pidge across the room

• while everyone is trying to sleep

• lance: guys guys i’m gonna say something

• lance:

• lance: mayonnaise

• everybody loses their shit laughing because it’s 2 in the morning and they’re sleep deprived

• the bathroom sink is a mess

• their toothbrushes are color coordinated

• since they have to fit so much shit on the sink they have specific spots where they put their stuff

• pidge: hunk, your toothbrush is in my spot

• hunk: what? no- this corner of the sink is mine

• the debate results in all of them crowded in the bathroom arguing for 10 minutes

• keith: i don’t even remember having a designated spot on the sink

• allura: we need a toothbrush holder

• sometimes they do their nightly routines together

• which is also chaotic

• lance is applying a face mask, which drips onto pidge’s arm

• pidge then jerks her arm away- hitting keith’s toothbrush

• it then catapults off the counter and sticks to the wall

• keith: i left the room for one second what the hell did you do

• i’ve seen this headcannon somewhere before and i love it so i’m elaborating

• whenever keith is tired he’s giddy and hyper and loopy

• keith after not having a good nights sleep for 3 weeks, getting a running start and flipping onto the couch: a woop

• pidge: what in fucks name are you doing

• lance is the same exact way when he’s tired so they act like complete and utter idiots

• keith: lance, hey lance guess what

• lance: what

• keith:

• lance:

• they both burst out laughing

• lance: keith, omg you know what- keith rhymes with teeth

• keith:

• keith: holy shit

• eventually they both burn out and are just exhausted

• lance with his face planted in the carpet: uuuggghghggg

• allura: you finally done?

• lance: *angry muffled grumbling*

• pidge tends to fall asleep anywhere in the house

• usually with her computer on her lap or nearby

• she’s usually discovered the next morning

• hunk walking into the kitchen, sleepily rubbing his eyes: kinda want some orange juice

• pidge is just asleep on top of the fridge

• everyone else eating breakfast at the table

• keith: has anyone seen pidge?

• soft snoring is heard from under the table

• keith: ah

• they just put up with each other’s bullshit all day everyday and i love it

• lance, slamming his bedroom door open: everyone in my room i had a nightmare and need affection

• everyone emerges from their rooms grumbling and all file into lance room with their pillows and stuffed animals

• pidge trying to keep the remote away from lance: go long, hunk!

• keith appearing in the doorway and getting hit straight in the forehead with a remote: fUCK

• lance: are those my socks?

• keith: huh? oh, i dunno they were in my laundry pile

• lance: no those are totally my socks give them back right now

• when they all moved in together it was before keith and lance started dating so obviously there was shipping

• pidge, bursting into hunk’s room: i have klance tea

• hunk: spill

• lance: wh- keith and i are NOT dating

• pidge: you guys literally live together!

• lance: WE ALL LIVE TOGETHER

• allura, to hunk during dinner: i don’t know about you, but it seems to me like keith has a thing for lance

• keith: princess you’re not even whispering we can all hear you

• keith and lance secretly holding hands under the dinner table while lance is telling a story

• lance, being dramatic and expressive, lifts his hands in the air to accidentally reveal that his hand is intertwined with keith’s and its immediate chaos

• keith letting go immediately: wH HUH HOW DID THAT GET THERE

• pidge: I FUCKING TOLD YOU

anywayyy that’s all

i literally love this so much so don’t be surprised if i come up with some more later

yeah

bye

[silverineontherun]

I don't know what you mean exactly when you say "Keith prompts" but I have always had a soft spot for royal Keith or knight Keith (*-*) Anyway, HB to this beautiful boy, so precious, must protect him at all costs ♡

As usual, I don’t provide enough info, sorry 😂 I intended to write small pieces for Keith if people asked for something specific! Now, for Knight Keith, I have a snippet of a discarded fic I wrote a while ago, Knight Lance x Knight Keith. This was the part that inspired the whole thing, actually, I hope you like it!

***

Snippet from “The Heart of the Lotus” (Klance, Medieval/Fantasy AU, discontinued)

Sir Lance remembers to shut his mouth on time, clearing his throat and commanding his men to descend from their horses and form in front of the first set of stairs that lead to the entrance, where a line of soldiers and courtiers dressed in solid black and red are already waiting for them.

He checks on his company and corroborates they are standing in clean formation just as instructed, to his utmost relief. Proud, he feels his chest swelling as Coran hurries back to the princess’ carriage to help her descend from it. Lance walks in front of his people instead, facing the Thayserians who look at them like hawks. They look like servants and guards, and Lance is glad they are not being received directly by the king himself, feeling uncomfortable under his sweaty clothes. The trip was long and the entire contingent needs to refresh before the anticipated meeting…

That’s when, suddenly, the local soldiers break their formation in two, leaving some space right in the middle. The servants hurry to the sides, keeping their heads low, and a figure appears from behind them and walks resolutely to Lance’s encounter. 

He is dressed in black from head to toe, from his shiny boots to his elegant silk robe, a garment Lance hasn’t seen before, decorated in soft grey patterns that surround his wide torso like a painted canvas. Just like the Palace itself, the only ornament that adds some color to his outfit is a long red scarf, crossing his chest and dangling behind him, secured to his shoulders by two silver pins with the shape of flowers — flowers whose name escapes him right now, but are part of Thayserix royal family’s crest. The ends of the silky scarf flutter like a weightless cape behind him as he walks.

This time it’s not that easy to keep his jaw from slacking. The closer the man gets, the more Lance can appreciate his gorgeous features while feeling absolutely struck by them. 

So... what had Coran said about King Shiro? 

Dark hair, sharp eyes, high cheekbones…

Check, check, and check. The man’s pale face is framed by rebellious black hair that falls to his shoulders and suits him disturbingly well, despite its unkempt state. The rigid line of his mouth is not amicable, but Lance can’t stop staring at it, his head momentarily empty with only Coran’s voice resonating inside. 

‘Beauty can be a lethal distraction…’

Indeed, thinks the Altean First Royal Guard sweating a bit because, in that regal attitude and the way the man’s eyes scan the whole contingent and then settle on him as if measuring him, he can testify that ‘lethal’ and ‘beauty’ can absolutely go together, and the king of Thayserix is the living proof of that.

But he isn’t one to be intimidated by looks, no sir. He will let nothing distract him from his duties, and this is the best moment to show that. Sweeping his hair back and then taking his fist to his chest — ignoring how his feet seem to need some convincing before moving again—, he walks until he meets the king in the middle of the esplanade, and before they can lock eyes, he bends the knee and lowers his head, wishing to appear humble and obliging.

“Your Majesty,” he says loudly so his people can hear him too. “It is truly an honor to make your acquaintance. I am Sir Lance of Altea, and I speak on behalf of Princess Allura of Altea, deeply grateful for your welcome, and in hopes of being of service to you, as you may see fit.”

Silence. Lance is satisfied with his words for around three seconds until he notices the unnatural silence around him. He frowns, not daring to raise his face yet, a bit taken aback by the fact he doesn’t even get an answer, until, finally, a manly voice answers him.

“Welcome. Our king has been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

A pause. Lance, stunned, raises his eyes slowly, and he finds the man’s eyes not looking at him, but at the people and the carriages. From this close, Lance notices a scar that crosses his right cheek, and also the long sword hanging from his side, as well as his gloved hands. 

If he wasn’t so dazzled by that first impression, he could have noticed before that the man has no crown and probably never will. He confirms it when he finally has the delicacy of introducing himself.

“I am Keith, King Shiro’s Shield Guardian. I am to lead you to your new chambers…” The man makes a pause, and his eyes settle on Lance again. With a smirk, he murmurs: “Your Majesty.”

And that’s when Lance feels the weight of the entire world dropping right over his head. Unable to turn back to his people, with his cheeks burning, he watches how the Thayserians hurry to help the Alteans with their luggage and horses, while this Lord Keith turns around with the ghost of a smile lingering on his lips. Pinned to the floor and humiliated, Lance’s mind fills with gibberish until he reconnects his brain to his limbs, and then, furious, adrenaline propels him forward, deaf to Coran’s call coming from behind. 

“Wait a moment! Hey!”

Lord Keith stops and looks back, curious. Lance struggles a bit to find his words. He doesn’t remember ever being this mad in his entire life.

“You— How— You!!” 

“Excuse me?” asks Keith, looking unimpressed. This irritating attitude is like oil to Lance’s already burning rage.

“You... How could you let me bend the knee in front of you instead of your king? Have you no shame?!” he fumes.

Keith makes a pause, staring at him with cold eyes. And Lance adds another unwanted discovery to his list: the knight’s irises are colored in a strange shade of violet, regarding him with an intensity that makes him feel they can see through him. His heart beats faster at this against his will, and he notices the heat creeping up from his neck up to his cheeks once more. Worse, when Keith smirks again, his gaze inevitably drops to his full lips instead.

“It was funny,” he says, shrugging. He smirks wider at Lance’s outraged expression, and turning around, he adds, “Your men are really loyal to you. Laudable, though I honestly feel for them.”

He starts walking again and Lance stays there letting his arms dangle foolishly by his sides, confused, until he hears Coran’s voice calling him and he turns around to find the group of Alteans and Thayserians catching up to them. The Alteans look at the tall ceiling and the splendidly illuminated corridor with curiosity, but the warden, followed closely by Allura, stomps his way like a pissed off yalmor.

“What was that, Sir Lance?! Do you intend to shame us in front of our hosts since day one?!” he nags in muffled but furious whispers.

“I-I’m sorry. I honestly thought— I mean, did you see him? You said— Uh...” stutters Lance, ashamed.

“Don’t be so hard on Sir Lance, Coran. Besides, you saw how the guards reacted, didn’t you?” says Allura, amused. It’s the first time Lance sees her smile sincerely in weeks. Coran sighs, shaking his head.

“What did they do?” Lance asks eyeing his men, uneasy. The least he needs right now is sabotaging his own leadership among them in alien territory, yet there he goes, blowing everything for hurrying too much like he promised he would never do again.

However, at that moment he catches sight of Hunk, just when Coran grumbles:

“They also kneeled down. So you looked less foolish, and we looked way more well behaved than we really are. Truly, nothing short of a miracle.”

But the miracle has a name for sure, and when Hunk gives Lance two thumbs up, the knight seriously considers running his way and asking for his hand in marriage right there. He has done enough damage to their first impression as it is, though, so he has to be content with putting his hands together and murmuring a teary ‘thank you’ while making a mental note to get his friend the finest ale or similar treat these lands can offer. The rest of the men don’t look too worried about it, luckily. Maybe they think that was the right protocol. Maybe they just want to save face.

Or maybe the Thayserians maids are also very pretty and very distracting, which explains their dumbfounded looks, though Lance has trouble worrying about that with Lord Keith’s hateful smirk imprinted in his memory, filling his stomach with nothing but pure liquid rage and uneasy, unwelcome tension.

[smolstrawberrychara]

October Klance Prompts - 28/10 - Alien

I saw alien and immediately thought: Galra Keith. So it’s a Galra Keith fic! And longer than all my other 3 combined  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Summary: Lance aims to make this next mission a romantic one as he and Keith land on a new planet. But when rumours start spreading of monsters appearing at night, Lance notices Keith acting strangely and the planet becomes a little more spooky. (Hurt, comfort and love ♥)

Also on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21071726/chapters/50576729

The sun was setting by the time Lance and Keith landed planet side. The descent had gone smoothly, no laser fire or homing missiles or field of thorns to land in. Lance was feeling pretty good. But maybe that was more to do with the fact that this was a two-person mission - a couples-mission if you would - with Lance’s one and only crush.

It had been a few months now that he’d noticed his feet turned to springs every time he walked around Keith. There was a little wriggle in his stomach every time someone mentioned him. And time always seemed too short when they talked. It was rosy - Lance knew that - but it was bubbling like wine.

The two were getting closer. The wriggles in Lance’s belly more like barrel rolls. And one long night at the Byzantee’s liberation ball, they were an eyelash’s width away from kissing. They’d been edging closer all night, goading each other into eating strange foods, laughing at how the Byzantee stumbled drunkenly around despite being slug-like and sturdy. They’d made their escape into the halls, hiding under dark wooden walls, leaning in close. Their voices were hushed, Keith’s breath warm, heart rushing.

And then Hunk came crashing through.

One hand threw them apart, the other clamped over his mouth whilst his panicking eyes shouted, ‘MOVE MOVE MOVE’. It would be safe to say, the mood was lost.

Which is what made this mission so important. Not the so-called Galra presence Lance wasn’t detecting along the cobbled streets. And Keith seemed to feel it too, striding between the hodge-podge of town houses with his face to the sky, breathing in the sunset.

“Seems pretty safe if you ask me.” Lance commented, noticing the pots of flowers lining the curbs. He could have very well been in a small English town if it wasn’t for the luminescent petals and the tall bees stalking over them as if on stilts.

Keith hummed. Then he shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “We should go watch the sunset.”

That was easier than expected.

“Sure!” Lance cried, and he did a little hop as he fell into step next to Keith. “I saw a hill up ahead, wanna go up there?”

“Sounds good.”

Conveniently, the residents of the town had built a winding stone path into the hillside, meaning Lance’s thighs were spared the ache of a direct climb. They hadn’t seen many of the residents, Lance noted. In town the population kept to themselves, raking beady eyes down the two before popping into shops or houses. On the hill, only a single man had passed them. He was a near giant, lumbering down the pass on trunk-like legs. Yet, when he spotted the two, he ducked his hat and hid his eyes as if trying to hide.

“Is there a native species to this planet?” Lance asked Keith as they hopped off the path at a spot Keith had deemed decent.

“Dunno.” Keith answered, moving onto the ground and swivelling around until he had one knee up and one knee down. Then he patted the grass next to him, curling his elbow against his knee and sending Lance a lazy smile. “Does it matter?”

Lance’s knees buckled.

“I-it’s just, everyone I’ve seen...” Lance felt his cheeks flame. He was rambling. And wobbling. And making unnecessary observations about diversity. He threw himself onto the grass before he could say anymore.

“Pidge said it was a common immigration planet.” Keith offered, wearing a sly smile as he turned to the sky, “Like a safe-haven.”

Lance breathed. At least Keith seemed calm.

“Damn Galra,” he hissed, awkwardly sticking his hands into the grass, “how many people have they got to displace? We’ve got a whole planet here!”

Keith was too busy gazing out at the sunset to respond and Lance was too busy fussing over his foot placements to notice. There were a few wispy clouds tinged in pink sailing across the sky and when Lance finally stopped fidgeting, he could appreciate just how calming it was to watch them - like boats bobbing on the sea. He could almost feel the salty air tugging on his hair, hear the rhythmic clanking of sails on masts and feel the sand slipping between his toes. Lance let his head fall towards his shoulder.

“It’s nice here,” he said.

“But?

Lance sighed. “But it’s not Earth.”

For him, the sky was just a little too golden, sun a little too big - and there was no denying it was beautiful - but Earth’s had a rawness unmatched by space. The cooling temperatures, the lengthening shadows, the blues fading and changing. It was a new experience every time - and yet never a disappointment.

Besides, there was no ocean here. Lance knew logically there were plenty of places to watch the sun set on earth without ever even acknowledging the ocean, but he’d never seen the point. Maybe he was just biased. Or homesick. Probably the latter.

“It’s kinda like Earth,” Keith offered, curling over his knee once again like a lazy cat. “Green grass. Single sun. Someone interrupting the quiet every five seconds.”

Lance made an offended noise. He was about to defend himself when he found Keith smiling up at him and forgot what he was angry about. Lance had always liked it when Keith relaxed. Especially like this, when Lance could observe the softness of his planes and the way his cheek squashed into his eye, pushing against the angle of his knee. But, here, in the gold light of evening, the boy was infinitely sweeter and despite his misgivings with where they were, Lance found himself smiling too.

“It’s not Cuba.” He said, without nearly enough sadness.

“That’s it’s not.” Keith agreed.

They turned back to the sky.

“You’d like Cuba.” Lance said suddenly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’s that?”

Lance grinned. “Because you like me.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance did not miss the amused puff of air that left his nose. He didn’t comment. Just shook his shoulders in a smug sort of way, the warmth of triumph sinking into his chest.

It was peaceful as the evening drew on, the two watching the sun sink down in relative quiet. Lance found himself relaxing into the grass almost sleepily, rolling his head closer to Keith with every comment. But as the circle started to melt, there was some shuffling from behind. Lance glanced over his shoulder just as a woman broke the hilltop behind them. She froze, staring. Then she shook her head, turning back once again.

“Odd.” Lance commented, turning back around. Keith shrugged, copying Lance’s stance by kicking out his legs and leaning back on his elbows.

“Probably wanted our spot.”

But as the sun continued to fall, a couple walked passed, and Lance couldn’t help notice how their conversation turned to whispers as their footsteps grew louder. Then an old man showed up.

“You should get inside.” He called out, shaking his head as he leaned heavy on his walking stick. “Not safe.”

Lance looked him over. He was a thin kind of alien, wearing an oversized jacket and red woollen hat. His skin was leathery and hung loose on his cheek bones, reminding Lance of the old fisherman back home. Only this fisherman had skin bluer than the sea and raised bumps on his forehead like the shell of a turtle. Keith raised an eyebrow, prompting Lance to call back.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine sir, thank you for worrying!”

The man tutted. Then he turned muttering to himself. Lance could feel a chill run along his neck. But the sun wasn’t fully set yet.

“There’s monsters out here y’know!”

Lance jolted at the shout. Spinning around he found another alien, with curling white hair and deep magenta skin.

“Monsters.” She repeated. Her tongue slid between her teeth like a snake and Lance shuddered.

“Thanks!” He cried, because he didn’t know what else to do. “Will bear that in mind!”

He turned back with a nervous laugh, staring intently at the sun. He wished it wasn’t so low.

“Monsters!” She repeated, voice shrill and loud. “You ought to be inside.”

“YES THANK YOU.” Lance yelped. Why couldn’t sunsets make sounds? And if they did, why couldn’t they come with a remote so he could turn it up?

“Don’t you hear me!?”

“Yep! We got it!”

The woman huffed angrily. “GET INSIDE!”

Lance squeezed his fists into the grass. He hadn’t wanted a shouting match this evening. Hadn’t wanted to feel this angry. But it burned through his eyes as he glared red at the sun.

“WE WILL LATER!”

There was a tut. “You better.”

Lance wanted to punch her. But she said no more. And as the quiet returned, Lance assumed she left. Still, he didn’t dare turn around. Just glared at the sun until it disappeared. Stupid aliens ruining stupid sunsets. How were they supposed to be romantic when people kept talking about monsters and danger?

“Lance?”

“What?” Lance snapped before remembering where he was. “Sorry.”

“S’okay,” Keith said, laughing softly. “You wanna go?”

Lance didn’t respond right away.

Keith spoke again, “you okay?”

Lance shrugged. Then he frowned. Then he found himself pulling his jacket closer around his shoulders as he talked. “I know monsters aren’t real...”

“But?”

Lance shook his head. Climbing to his feet, he offered out a hand and pulled Keith up too. “Rumours don’t come from nowhere.”

Keith squeezed his hand. “This planet’s safe.”

“I know.” Lance said, but found himself unable to let go as he looked down at the grass.

“You’re a paladin of Voltron,” Keith continued, ducking down to catch his eye, “maybe not an official monster hunter but I’d place a pretty good bet on you in a fight against one.”

Lance smirked. “Really? You have a bad habit of losing bets.”

“That’s because they’re always against you.”

Lance started laughing. “You wanna bet?”

Keith punched him in the arm.

“Come on, monsters or not, it’s getting late.”

“Sure,” Lance sang. It was as if Keith had sucked all the fear from him with just a few choice words. And Lance began ambling down the path after him feeling giddy once more, “wouldn’t want Prince Charming losing out on his beauty sleep. Less than eight hours and you’ll be the monster everyone’s avoiding.”

Keith turned back to glare and it filled Lance with glee. He couldn’t help it as he threw his head back and laughed. He’d made a habit of pushing his luck around Keith, but he got the feeling the other didn’t really mind.

Town was much less welcoming now they were walking at dusk. Curtains were closed, shutters hurriedly being placed onto windowsills and any passers-by setting a brisk pace with hats pulled low. The inn sat centre of the street, metal sign swinging shrilly in the wind. Keith ducked inside, ahead of Lance, pulling at his jacket sleeves. He seemed to have made a habit of that since re-entering town. Lance had assumed the boy wasn’t affected by the cold given his habit of sweating profusely on the fridge they called a castle, but maybe it was a case of strong winds and a barely-there jacket.

Nobody was manning reception when they arrived, so Lance dinged the bell. Swinging on his toes as he waited, he noticed Keith scratching at his arm, glimpsing irritated skin.

“You okay?” He asked. Keith immediately pulled down his sleeve.

“M’fine.”

It was a rather abrupt reply. And Keith purposely turned his stare up to the keys lining the wall to cut off any further conversation. His hand was glued to his sleeve.

“Really?” Lance asked unbelieving, “thought you might have got yourself a rash given how you can’t leave your arm alone.”

Keith’s eyes widened a fraction before they flickered down to his arm. His fingers tightened around his wrist.

“It’s nothing.” He said. Then he met Lance’s gaze and shrugged guiltily. “I mean, it’s a rash. I’ll ask Coran when we get back.”

Lance hummed. It was nice to hear he intended to get help, but Keith sounded very unsure of the whole ordeal.

“If it gets worse tell me.”

Keith didn’t answer. But it didn’t matter because at that moment, their conversation was interrupted by heavy footsteps and swishing fabric.

“Hello?”

An alien appeared at the door, dressed in a coat that reached the floor and a floppy hat that did not match the season. They had speckled skin, of indigo and white, though it was only just visible on their chin as the brim of their hat fell low enough to touch their white lips.

“Hi!” Lance greeted brightly, waving briefly, “we’re looking for a room. Just a few nights. Two beds?”

The alien pursed their lips, forming a heart shape.

“A few nights.” They repeated uncertainly. “It’s the waxing moon you realise?”

“Uhh...” Lance looked to Keith but he looked just as lost as Lance felt. “No?”

“You mustn’t go out.”

“What? Why?”

“The waxing moon.” Is all the explanation the alien gave before spinning around and grabbing a set of keys. They threw them down on the counter loudly.

“Monsters.” They said, squeezing the metal under gloved fingers. “They come out at night. The full moon asks of it.”

“O-kay?”

Lance was starting not to like this place at all, glancing to Keith for help. But he wasn’t looking. His hand was scratching his arm again and he was staring out the window, as if watching something.

“Keith?” Lance prompted, nudging an elbow into his side.

“What? I’m fine.” Keith snapped, shoving his arm behind his back. “These the keys?” He said flatly to the server. The alien nodded, passing them over.

“It’s a suite.” They said, “two bedrooms, one bathroom, a shared sitting space. It’s located on the second floor. Enjoy.”

Lance didn’t feel the genuine intent of that last instruction, the flat delivery and immediate disappearance of their host offering no comfort whatsoever.

“Should we-” Lance began but Keith was already stamping up the stairs. “Hey wait!”

Keith went straight to his room without another word.

 Lance was a light sleeper at the best of times. But with the unnerving town and talk of monsters he’d fallen into a restless slumber. So, when there was a crash of falling glass, he sprang up instantly.

“Keith?” He called out. The wind was rumbling overhead, and only the rattling roof tiles gave answer. A cold tickle of air slipped under the window break, and crawled around his neck. With a shudder Lance leapt out of bed. “KEITH!”

There was the sudden slam of a door. “I’m fine!”

Lance jumped at the noise. Then he processed who it was and slumped breathlessly into the wall. “You scared me. What’s going on, are you alright?”

“Yeah!” Keith cried. Lance slipped out his bedroom. “Just dropped a glass. I’ll get another from downstairs.”

Lance stopped short. “Wait, you’re leaving the apartment?”

The night suddenly felt a lot colder. Lance pulled on his shirt sleeves.

“I uh already have...” Keith called back. Lance realised now the hall light was glowing around the front door and Keith’s bedroom was wide open.

“I’ll come with you!” Lance shouted, throwing himself back into his room to grab a jacket.

“NO!”

Lance tripped over his own feet. “What, why not!?”

“I mean... I’m fine. It’s not far. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Hurried footsteps followed and Lance was left bewildered. He was still midway to the floor, bulk of his jacket gripped between tense fingers, but with Keith’s sudden retreat he was left slowly rebalancing. It was odd. Lance had thought they’d built a kind of report in the last few months where they did things together, even if it wasn’t necessary. Just a kind of habit of keeping company. It was hard not to feel a little hurt at the betrayal. Lance clutched the jacket to his chest.

The room wasn’t so dark now his eyes had adjusted. But that only made the whole thing worse. The shadows all looked menacing, Lance caught flashes of horns and figures before he refocused on chairs and clothes. He sunk into the wall. Keith would be back soon. Lance wouldn’t be alone for much longer. So he settled into fiddling with the material of his pockets. Keith would be back soon, he repeated to himself like a mantra, as his eyes blinked slower and slower and the floor seemed to get closer and closer. He didn’t hear the latch of the door before he fell asleep.

 The next day was weirder than the first. Lance had a crick in his neck and a bad temper. He’d intended to wait Keith out the night before, standing against the wall in order to stay awake long enough to hear the latch click. But it never did. And Lance woke up slouched between the wall and hard floor with a painful dent in his face formed by the zip of his jacket.

Instinctively, he blamed Keith for his pain. But the boy wasn’t acting early nsmug enough for it to feel right. In fact, Keith was keeping very quiet. Over breakfast he took on a distant look, skin pale and eyes rimmed with red. Lance had asked how he’d slept, a subtle way of promoting his own poor night and Keith had rushed out a yes before hurriedly throwing down his knife and fork and jetting off to the bathroom.

That didn’t exactly answer Lance’s question. And left him with many more.

Maybe Keith was just having stomach problems? Not everyone was as open as Lance was about these things. He had the excuse that you couldn’t afford not to be open in a house with eight other people. But Keith had lived alone and had a general habit of keeping to himself, so Lance decided not to push. Instead, he suggested they do another check of the town.

“If we don’t see anymore Galra, we could ask around,” Lance offered as they began their trek, “maybe people will be more welcoming when they see we want to help.”

Keith grunted, shrugging on his jacket. Lance noticed the mark on his skin was gone.

“Your rash looks better.”

Keith jolted like he’d been shot with electricity.

“What!?” He spluttered, pulling down his sleeves with the desperation of a teenage boy covering up a new tattoo.

“Your rash?” Lance repeated uncertainly, “it’s gone.”

“Oh...” Keith peaked down his sleeves and relaxed at whatever he saw. Lance couldn’t help noting the fact he wasn’t allowed to see anything. Between this and the odd disappearance at breakfast, Lance felt a mighty need to speak.

“You know being ill isn’t a crime.” He said rather huffily. “You don’t need to cover it up.”

“What?”

Lance scoffed. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes. I am.” Keith hissed, before throwing a hand through his hair and getting caught in the knots. “I’m just not ill.”

“You sure don’t look it.”

“I said I’m not.” Keith snapped, glare sharper now his hair wasn’t in the way. Lance raised his hands in surrender.

“Okay.”

Keith didn’t seem to notice, gritting out another warning. “Just drop it.”

“I said okay!” Lance cried, exasperated at the lack of attention Keith was showing.

“Good.” The other all but growled out. Then he strode ahead, beelining towards the streets they hadn’t checked yesterday. Lance scoffed. He didn’t particularly want to follow now that Keith had irked him but didn’t have much of a choice. The mission came first and all. At least, that’s what Keith always said.

 The villagers had struck Lance as mice the day before. And to some extent they still did today, scurrying away every time Lance got close to even looking at them. But they had become a little bolder. Only where Keith was concerned, but bolder none the less. They openly stared at him - some smiling almost sympathetically as they passed. They paid Lance no such favours. But with Keith, they’d seemed to have struck some sort of kinship, one even going as so far as to nod at him. It irritated Lance. He was supposed to be the friendly one. But it seemed to unnerve Keith. He nodded awkwardly back, ducked his head at their smiles, and began glancing around more wildly as they went on.

Lance didn’t like this. He began walking closer and in a sheer stroke of confidence, he brushed their knuckles together in the hopes of offering some sort of comfort. The first time, Keith just stepped further away, seemingly unaware of the purpose behind the gesture. And the second time he just shoved his hands in his pockets, craning his head around the opposing alley.

So Lance shoved his hands in his own pockets.

“Maybe we should start talking to villagers?”

“No!”

It was the most convinced Keith had sounded all day. His eyes went wide, and he stiffened like he’d seen a ghost. He seemed to notice Lance’s shock as he immediately went limp again and avoided his gaze.

“I mean, they don’t seem to like you much. Maybe we should split up?”

Lance sucked on his teeth. Whilst it was true the people had not appeared to take a shine to Lance, he didn’t much like to hear it.

“Right.” He said, trying not to let the bitterness ring out on the ‘t’ sound. “You go ask questions and I’ll do what? Keep walking around uselessly?”

Keith finally had the guts to look guilty now. His brows tilted in pain, and his lips squashed together. “Yes?”

Lance tutted. This made Keith panic.

“Not uselessly! Umm... just investigate? Check for bases and uhh... Galra stuff?”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“I-“ Keith began before sighing, “I’m not.”

He scuffed his boot against the curb. “I don’t know what’s going on here. And I don’t like it.“

Lance paused. Keith had lost the brashness of before, and the strange flighty behaviour was gone. Instead, he seemed lost. But more than that, he was willing to admit it. And that stood out to Lance more than all the throw away comments. Without another thought he stepped forward and squeezed Keith’s arm.

“It’s okay.” He soothed, staying within the others space like a satellite around a planet. “I don’t know what’s up with this town either. If there are Galra, I don’t know why they’re hiding. And if there aren’t, then these monsters are probably freaky enough. We’ll do our best though, right?”

“Right.” Keith agreed to the floor. Then he looked up, giving Lance one of his soft smiles. One that Lance hadn’t nearly seen enough of in the last few days. It made him stand stronger in his conviction.

“You go talk, I’ll go walk.”

Keith’s smile somehow grew warmer. “Okay.”

 Lance wasn’t sure how long the walking and talking was supposed to last. But it was already sundown when Lance re-entered the town. There’d been no bases out in the fields, and no missile launchers hidden under basements. It was all rather too sweet and homely. Lance was starting to doubt the accuracy of Pidge’s intel. Maybe their coordinates had been wrong? Either way Lance was coming back empty handed. And the dark streets were even creepier on his own. Lance hurried along, pulling his jacket close to his body. Why hadn’t he headed back sooner?

There was a bang and Lance stumbled.

“Hello?” He called, like an idiot who wanted to get murdered. There was a second noise, a scraping of metal this time, coming from the alley way filled with bins. Lance crept forward. “Someone out there?”

Nothing now. Just the sprawling silence of night. He dug out his phone from his pocket and flicked on the torch. “Hello?”

Swishing the light along the alley he caught glimpses of shiny black sacks and food packets spilling on the floor. Lance drew out his breath. It was just fairy stories tricking his mind. Casually, he flicked the light back. Then something jumped into the beam and he nearly fell backwards. The shadow. It was like a bat ear. Lance threw the light around, glimpsing claws, fur, purple. Galra. Lance was stuck frozen a moment. Then the adrenaline kicked in and he was running, pelting down the pavement with his heart beating loud in his ears. Why were the Galra here!? On a quiet planet in the middle of the night. Lance burst into the alley but the Galra had a head start. And they ran at double speed, heavy boots stomping through the alley. Claws whined against stone as they scrambled for the corner, disappearing fast. Lance slammed into the wall, panting at the retreating figure. A Galra. Here of all places. Hiding in the shadows. Lance couldn’t understand why he hadn’t seen one sooner. Then it clicked. The monsters that appeared at night. They were Galra! Lance sprinted back to the hotel.

 “Keith!” He yelled only halfway down the corridor. “KEITH!”

Skidding into their door, Lance banged his fists in the wood. “The Galra! They’re the monsters! Open up we need to go!”

There was no answer.

“Keith?”

Lance leant his head against the door, getting his breath back. Maybe Keith was still out?

“I’ll go get the spare keys.” Lance muttered, smacking the door once more before running off again. His plan formed naturally in his head. Grab weapons. Find Keith. Hunt Galra. So caught up in these thoughts, Lance forgot to pay attention as he ran and the next moment he was colliding with a huge mass.

“Sorry!” Lance cried, stumbling towards the floor. In a stroke of luck, he managed to get his footing just before his nose hit the ground but his triumph was short lived when he heard the sound of crashing behind him. Clearly, his opponent hadn’t been spared the same fate. Lance spun around, worry about to spill from his lips when he came to an abrupt halt.

Across the hall was a Galra. There was no way to deny it - indigo skin, large bat-like ears, blown pupils and yellow irises. But that’s not what caught Lance’s attention. Because across the hall from him was someone familiar. And the petrified look smacked across their face was so wrong it made his stomach turn leaden.

“Keith?”

“Don’t look!” Keith shouted, throwing his hands to his face. “Please.”

His ears drooped - large purple ones covered in fur - and he attempted to hide under his shoulders. But Lance couldn’t stop looking. Even with his hands over his face, Lance could see how Keith’s skin had changed - texture like a peach, colour of a plum. His shape was the same, but his features were sharper. Or maybe just more striking in this palate. Either way, Lance had never seen Keith like this before. He wanted to speak but moved instead. And that was a mistake as Keith flinched back.

“Don’t!” He yelled, eyes flashing gold. He was trembling, curling into the corner where the floor met the wall. “I’ll be fine in the morning, okay? Just- don’t look. Please.”

He wasn’t looking at Lance. But the cracks in his voice made Lance sure if he saw his face in that moment, it would break his heart. Lance hated this place in an instant. Hated the whole universe for making his best friend cower on the floor. But more than that, he was filled with a mighty need to see Keith standing with his usual strength once again. So Lance stepped forward, more carefully than before and bent into a crouch.

“Keith?” He called quietly. The boy slowly lifted his head, hesitant but willing. And when he did, Lance brought his hands up, cupping Keith’s cheeks and sweeping his thumbs along the plump lift in his skin. “Please don’t hide.”

Then he tilted forward, capturing Keith’s lips in his own. It was gentle, Lance slowly letting his warmth spread through Keith. But not without purpose. With every moment of the kiss, Lance wanted Keith to feel that he wasn’t alone. That he was loved. That he had no reason to be scared. And when they parted, Lance felt a little giddy, eyes catching on the shine lining Keith’s lips.

“You- why’d you-?” Keith stammered, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“Kiss you?” Lance supplied, leaning back with a sly grin, “because I wanted to.”

Keith gawped. Then glanced away and that’s where the gawping ended. He seemed to remember where he was, who he was, and his cheeks burned bright red. He pulled back out of Lance’s hands.

“You shouldn’t have.”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Keith cried, eyes suddenly flashing yellow, “I’m a Galra! I’m a monster! Even without the freaky moonlight, nothing’s going to change that! It’s in my dna!”

The words were harsh, and they left splinters in Lance’s ears. But he felt no less determined.

“You’re not a monster.” Lance said firmly. “Never have been.”

Then he reached out, tracing his fingers around Keith’s jaw, noticing how the soft hairs moved with him. “And Galra or not, who you are has nothing to do with the looks on your face or the genes in your bones.”

“But-” Keith began. His eyes became watery, words holding half the fight they had before. And a moment later, the boy collapsed all together, falling into Lance’s chest. “What about the team?” He asked wetly, twisting his fingers into the front of Lance’s shirt. “Allura. And Pidge. They hate Galra.”

Lance shook his head. Curling his arms around Keith, he pulled him closer, burying his nose in his hair.

“They don’t.” He said softly, pressing a kiss behind Keith’s ear, and inhaling the earthy scent. “They hate what happened. They like you.”

Keith’s ear twitched. He snuggled in closer, almost like he was trying to hide.

“And you?”

The question was spoken so quietly Lance might have missed it. But the vulnerability made it impossible to. Lance looked down at the boy in his arms. A lump of purple and fluff clinging to his chest like a koala. And couldn’t understand how anyone could hate such a gentle person. Someone who only showed strength in adversity, chose kindness even though he’d suffered so much. Lance burned with a sudden illogical feeling of injustice. Because Keith deserved to be happy. Just like anyone else.

“Of course I like you.” It seemed too obvious to even say. Lance didn’t go around kissing just anyone after all.

“And what about the Galra?” Keith asked, or more mumbled. Lance felt the movement of it right against his neck and was almost too distracted to answer. But he knew how important this conversation was. So, squeezing Keith tight, he answered honestly.

“The Galra aren’t evil.” He said, with a sort of finality that made it cement in his mind. “There are good Galra. And there are bad Galra. Just like humans. There are confused Galra and then, there’s survivors. Like you.”

Lance pulled back, reaching between them to take Keith’s hand and tangle their fingers together. “You’re scared?”

Keith nodded weakly. “What if they hate me?”

The way his voice wavered broke Lance’s heart.

“They won’t.” He pressed, tugging Keith’s hand up to his lips to kiss along his knuckles. “I won’t.”

He continued pressing kisses to the purple skin as he spoke, “and if anyone decides to dislike you for your biology then more fool them.” And then, because the thought made Lance’s lips widen uncontrollably, he added, “and more you for me,’ before kissing all they way up Keith’s arm and landing right in the crook of his neck. Keith squirmed under he attention but there were hints of laughter in his breaths so Lance decided not to stop. He pressed a final kiss under his jaw, humming against the sensitive skin before finally hooking his chin over Keith’s shoulder and pulling them into embrace once again.

“What if I stay like this forever?” Keith asked. His words were vibrations across Lance’s chest, but they carried a weight that sunk much deeper.

“You won’t.” Lance assured, remembering their previous conversations with the receptionist and the strange people on the hill, all about the moon and monsters that only came out at night. He realised now, they were probably just nervous of outsiders seeing their Galra traits and Lance could understand why; a seed of guilt planting in his stomach when he thought of the awful things he’d said about the Galra. And he realised then what he needed to say.

“But it wouldn’t matter if you did.”

Lance leaned back now, fixing Keith with a determine look.

“You’re you Keith.” He said softly, brushing at the tears trailing the others cheeks. “You’re kind. You’re brave. You’re stupid. You’re Galra. You’re everything you are. And you don’t need to be ashamed of any of it.”

Keith’s lashes fluttered as he looked down, cheek poking Lance’s fingers. “I am though.”

The words rang heavy in the quiet room. Lance knew the feeling. Of wanting to hide. The fear of not being good enough, of somehow being wrong. It wasn’t a pleasant one. But it wasn’t one he’d defeated yet either.

“Sometimes,” he said, voice unexpectedly raw. He coughed, clearing his throat, but it didn’t help much. “Sometimes it feels like the world wants to hate us. And sometimes it’s hard not to agree. But we don’t have to.”

He pulled Keith close again, tangling his fingers into his hair. “I don’t like who I am sometimes. And sometimes it’s really hard to fight those thoughts.” There were prickles forming in his eyes, but Lance pressed forward. “But I don’t want to feel like that forever.”

The feeling glowed like a fire in the pit of his stomach slowly taking form. It wasn’t roaring yet, just embers dancing around a fat wooden log. But it would. And Lance took comfort in the fact that he would get there.

“We won’t.” Keith whispered back. “I’ll fight with you.”

And Lance felt it’s flames flicker a little brighter. With a sudden resolution, he buried a kiss into Keith’s neck, messy like a raspberry. “Thank you.” He murmured. It felt like more than just two words. He took a moment to feel them. Then Lance took in a lungful of air, and got to his feet, refreshed but no less exhausted.

“Come on,” he said, offering out a hand. “Let’s go to bed.”

Keith smiled shyly. Then he took it. And allowed himself to be led all the way back to the suite, into Lance’s room and into his bed.

It wasn’t much different from being on the floor really. Lance tugging Keith close until his head fit snuggly against his neck and their chests pressed firmly together. Only now, he could feel the soft drumming of Keith’s heart. And hear the peaceful ins and outs of his sleeping breaths, puffing gently over his skin. It was relaxing. And surrounded by the warmth of blankets and intimate embrace, Lance decided he’d found something to like about this planet. It was a haven.

[fluffandlove]

Pure Irony

Author’s note: First Klance fic for this blog! Very late, very random, but have two boys giggling like a bunch of highschoolers in an alley anyway  Thanks for 800 followers! 

Summary: Keith was going to hell for this, wasn’t he?

But if going to hell meant Lance practically pushing him against a cold wall with their faces barely three inches apart and his adorable, hushed laughter blessing his ears, then Keith was more than ready for it.

Word count: 1,650 

Irony was a funny thing.

“Shit!”

Before he could even utter a sound of protest, he was yanked into the nearest alley by Lance’s warm, yet rough hand. Honestly, Keith kind of wanted to make fun of him for this, but Lance slapped a hand over his mouth and not so subtly sneaked a peek around the corner.

Seriously, this guy would be the worst spy ever. It was a good thing Allura – that girl he’d been crushing on for three years – was a couple of feet away from them and talking to someone, totally oblivious still. Keith hadn’t had time to register who the other person was exactly, but it’d looked like a girl from one of their classes.  

Didn’t have to mean anything. It did to Lance, though.

“What do we do,” Lance hissed and, ah, pressed himself closer to Keith, lowering his hand when he continued, “She can’t see me. What if she thinks I’m stalking her?”

What. How did Lance’s mind even work.

“Right,” Keith deadpanned and resisted the urge to flick his ear. “You both live in the same dorm. We hang out almost every day. Why would she think that you’re stalking her?”

That didn’t seem to any effect on Lance as he curled around Keith again, craning his neck so he could take another look. “Okay, okay, shh. They’re talking. Still talking, laughing, yes I’m sure that that girl’s hilarious. Ugh, just-just turn around. Turn around and walk along, so we can, I dunno, make a one-eighty and get out of here.”

A sigh. “And where exactly do you plan on going? It’s getting late.”

“I’ll sleep on a bench in the park, it’s fine.”

Lance still wasn’t looking at him, his dark eyes totally focused on the other two and Keith couldn’t believe he was actually in this situation. Pressed against a brick wall by that one guy he’d been crushing on for about three years as well, which was fine, totally fine. Said guy’s cologne wasn’t exactly helping, though. Along with the fact that Lance’s face was so close to his own, like, he could feel the warmth of the other’s skin and ugh, Keith really hated his life right now.

Their cheeks were practically touching— anyway. It wasn’t like he could exactly blame Lance for this. He and Allura had been dancing around each other for those damn three years while Keith was on the other side of the room, casually pretending he didn’t mind Lance’s insane pining. And that his poor gay heart wasn’t suffering because of it.

It was usually easy to pretend that it wasn’t affecting him, at all. This particular situation, however, was a whole new level.  

“If she sees me, I might as well die of embarrass-ment!”

That last part turned into a squeak. Keith guessed that one of them had looked in their general direction because Lance, of all things, had buried his face in Keith’s neck.

Peachy.

Keith turned his head a little and tried to focus on their voices as a way to distract himself. They seemed neither nearer nor farther in his opinion. Probably hadn’t even noticed their presence. In fact, they were laughing again, so Lance was truly being paranoid about this.

“They’ll probably talk for another two hours,” Keith whispered and, interestingly, felt Lance shiver. “You’re not gonna die if she sees you, Lance. Let’s just go. ”

But Lance was flailing and squeezing his shoulders, shaking like crazy. Keith was so confused.

“… What?” he mumbled.

“Stoptalkingittickles.”

Right. Yeah, the back of Lance’s neck was really close to his lips, so that made sense.

Surely Keith was not an asshole. He wasn’t gonna take advantage of this. No, not at all—

Never mind. Yes, he was.

“Sorry, what was that?” Keith oh so innocently spoke, making his words even breathier than necessary and almost chuckled when Lance psychically cringed, digging his fingers into Keith’s shirt.

“Fuck you, oh my god,” Lance huffed and raised his head, probably as some sort of way to defend his sensitive neck, but there were more than enough openings.

Gloved hands snuck down to Lance’s waist, slipped under his jacket and threateningly stayed there, enjoying the full body shiver he managed to cause with that simple touch. Lance was glaring daggers at him, obviously trying to look intimidating, but it was pretty cute in Keith’s eyes.

Lance was literally pouting. “Keith, my dude, my man, think about what you’re doing.”

“I already am,” was the smug reply, accompanied by a small squeeze that made Lance jerk forward with a panicked gasp. “’s pretty fun if you ask me.”

Squeeze, squeeze.

“They’ll hear us!” Lance panted, his lips curled into a forced smile, hands still holding onto Keith’s arms for dear life.

“Better make sure they don’t, then.”

It was so mean. Maybe a little too mean. Still, creating a memory of Lance laughing breathlessly into the crook of his neck was gonna be worth it. Their position had been an absolute nightmare before and now he was able to enjoy every second of it.

Now he didn’t mind their proximity, or the lovely smell of Lance’s cologne, or the way his warm hands were gripping his upper arms. He could get used to Lance’s short huffs of giggles brushing over his collarbone, his body twitching along with his fingers, feeling the warmth of his skin because, well, he’d casually flicked up his shirt and went under it.

Yeah, there it was. A muffled shriek. He could feel Lance’s lips stretching into a wide grin.

At this point, Keith was shaking with silent laughter, too. His fingers roamed over Lance’s back, muscles twitching every time he brushed over another ticklish spot and leaving a trail of goosebumps behind.

“I hate y-you,” Lance groaned and jumped when Keith’s fingers hovered near his ribs. “I will get you back for this.”  

Instead of answering, Keith scribbled a bunch of random patterns over the other’s ribcage that made Lance go rigid before he hid his face in Keith’s chest, more soft laughter escaping. Allura and the other girl were still talking and didn’t appear to have noticed Keith being a huge dick, so he decided he could step up his game a little.

By leaning forward until his lips were close to Lance’s ear again and murmuring, “Sure you will.”

Poor Lance scrunched up his shoulders and waved his hands around like a ninja, which was so very amusing that Keith had to look away for a second to compose himself. His hands were still very much under Lance’s shirt, just chilling. Holding his waist like guy friends do.

Keith was going to hell for this, wasn’t he.

But if going to hell meant Lance practically pushing him against a cold wall with their faces barely three inches apart and his adorable, hushed laughter blessing his ears, then Keith was more than ready for it.

Yeah, it was bad. But also kind of fun. Lance was holding him so tightly, bubbly and giddy laughter continuously pouring out of him and Keith both loved and hated himself for being the one responsible for it.

“I’m dying,” Lance whined through his endless stream of giggles and laid his hands over Keith’s chest. Not holding him, but not pushing him away, either. All the while Keith ran his hands over his sides and ribs, barely grazing him, but it had the desired effect nonetheless. “The police will come for your sneaky ass.”

“I’ll go to jail for tickling you?”

Snicker. “Yes.”

Stupid, unbelievable Lance was mirroring his smirk. “Idiot.”

Apparently their voices had been loud enough to draw attention, because they heard footsteps. It was somehow possible for Lance to bring their bodies even closer and Keith instinctively tightened his grip on his hips.

“Thought I heard voices. Oh, hey, it’s Lance! And— Keith?”

Keith should’ve seen this coming. “Hi.”

“… It’s not what it looks like?” Lance added lamely, still curled up in Keith’s arms, face flushed beyond saving.

A few seconds passed in which Allura’s eyes darted back and forth between them before her pretty face broke into a knowing smile. “I’m sure it isn’t. Sorry for interrupting.”

The other girl politely stayed on the other side of the wall, so Keith couldn’t see her and he was thankful for that. Lance simply flashed her one of his dashing grins, clearly aware of the fact that he wasn’t gonna sweet-talk himself out of this one and Keith was starting to feel the guilt eating at him.

It had all been fun and games until now. Maybe he’d overstepped some boundaries. Damn.  

He nodded when Allura told them goodnight and left him and (his feelings for) Lance alone.

“We were spotted,” Keith awkwardly broke the silence after they were out of earshot.

Lance still hadn’t moved. “Yeah and it was totally your fault.”

“Pretty sure it was yours.”

It drew another small huff of laughter out of Lance who finally decided to stand up straight and, oh, Keith probably had to pull his hands back. They felt oddly cold and he could only watch as Lance fixed his shirt and jacket.

“Guess you were right.”

Blink, blink. “I was right?” Keith gaped at him.

“Yeah,” Lance flashed him a grin. “She saw me and I didn’t die. I’m a total survivor.”

Right. That.

“Told you,” Keith managed to grin back and followed him out of the alley until he fell into step beside him. They also fell into a silence but Lance did move closer to him, their shoulders and hands shyly touching. “You’re not… mad?”

“’course not.” Lance looked back at him, a soft smile on his face. “I’ll admit I was being a bit dramatic. You can make it up to me by coming over for a movie night.”

Irony. ‘Twas truly a funny thing. 

[gotmeringinghellsbells]

Repeated Mistakes

A request from a user titled “sashi117″: “Hai! i'd like to suggest another prompt please :))  Ok it's kinda weird but basically, Lance got stuck and captured on some sort of random alien planet that uses happiness as an energy source. Since the aliens notice that he's filled with sadness, they tie him up somehow and tickle him so he starts laughing and producing happy hormones. Keith could go a solo mission to rescue Lance, but once he sees his predicament, he hesitates on helping him because he believes Lance deserves it 😂” 

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Characters: Lance McClain, Keith Kogane

A/N: I’m sorry, as cute as this idea was I just couldn’t get inspired. This isn’t exactly what you requested but here it is, I’m very klanced out (nothing to do with the prompt). Thank you @kwaiipootato for the help.

Description: Once more Lance is lured away by an attractive a line. This time, he’s “punished” for his action by being the healer of a planet that thrives off of laughter. 

_

Charming, harmonious laughter let out through the seemingly endless woods as the blue paladin of Voltron had fallen prey to yet another stranger. However, rather than ditching him and stealing Blue, this one was sticking around, claiming it was all necessary for his planet. 

Apparently, the planet was dying and he needed to return to it quickly. So, rather then waiting like Shiro and the others agreed on for Allura and Coran to meet up with them after their latest battle with Zarkon, Lance took off without telling anyone to quickly get the man back to his planet. 

However, he didn’t realize when the male said that Voltron was needed…. That the paladins themselves were needed. The planet grabbed him, once more attaching him to a tree. The humanoid-shark looking mae smiled as hands moved up and down Lance’s sides. Vines slowly started to come from the trees, working under his arm very slowly and teasingly. It sucked.

He wanted to giggle harder and hide his tickle spots, but he could hardly hide his face right now. He turned into his arm, giggling and blushing like crazy. “Whahahit, thahaht tickles! Surge! Heheheh wait!” The charming male tilted his head a bit, blinking his large, fully purple hued eyes innocently. “‘Tickles’? It that what you call it?”’

Interesting, huh. Other helpers have called it various other things but oh well. It didn’t really matter so long as Lance helped the planet. “Yhehehes! Eek! N-Nhahahot there!” He tried to sway a bit as he felt a finger poke near his navel. Sure, Surge had fingers like Nyma and couldn’t really get into the area, but…. The anticipation still killed him. 

“Well, this is odd.” There was a small indent on the other end of Surge’s finger! He poked at it a bit more as a reaction to the plea. This was fun! The planet started to move the vines a bit faster under the hallows. Yes, the thin bit of armor there did somewhat protect the male, but not enough. Lance bucked against the tree, knocking Surge back as he squealed. “No, no, no, no! Hehehshahahahah!” 

Though the brunette would never admit this as… he was a little panicked and it wasn’t the appropriate time to really have this thought but…. This was kind of fun! He jerked around a bit more as the vines decided to move on to new areas… thankfully. Moving down to his sides, the vines started to multiply, there were four after him now, and on top of that Surge’s hands!

“Wow, your pretty sensitive, aren’t you? Hopefully your paladin laughter will heal our planet quickly, then you can get back to your friends.” It was a childish mindset that Lance just wasn’t following. Frankly, he wasn’t really listening. If he had a bit more range of motion he’d be having fun with this. It felt so nice to just stop and let loose a bit, especially after all the stressful paladin work he’d been forced into for the last year of his life. 

He splayed his torso a bit more, trying to make a game out of his situation. It’s not like he could call for help or doing anything else anyway. He was trying to train his nerves to stay under his control. So rather than jerking away and trying to stay away, he forced himself to move back into their touches. When stubby fingers found his underarms though, it became a bit more difficult. “Hehehehehe! Pfff, hahahahaha crhahahap!” He could really feel the pressure under his arms now, earning stronger laughter. 

This brought a bit more hope to the poor alien before him. “Are you holding out on us? You can laugh more?” He was grinning ear to ear, showing off his white teeth. He got closer to Lance’s face, feeling up and down his torso, trying to stay out of the vines way. “Where else can I earn more of it, huh? Does this ‘tickles’, is this sensitive? You haven’t asked us to stop in a while, are you enjoying this?” If he was that made the whole mission much better. 

Lance tried to hide his face, eyes watering from tears of “forced” joy, and face bright read from laughter and being flustered. His stomach filled with butterflies as he started to picture himself at the mercy of someone else. Keith… could make a pretty good ler… couldn’t he? 

A soft growl as Lance lay back on his bed, curling up on himself for protection. “Why are you hiding from me?”, “What’s so funny?”, “Something funny?”, “I can give you something to giggle about”, the list of teases went on. At this point, Lance was practically out for the count. He was so flustered, he felt so happy, he just wanted to snuggle up and take a nap. 

But he couldn’t not yet. He was still the “helper” to this guy and the planet. Or was he? He hadn’t been paying too much attention to what was going on. He currently had no reason to be laughing as the vines retreated from the fear of a loud roar that let out across the land, and the scampering off of a cowardly kidnapper. 

Red landed quickly after circling the area in search for a landing. Lance couldn’t remember the rest as his body slowly shut down for a much needed nap. 

When he awoke, though, he was a little shocked to see a face peering down at his. He let out a yelp as he jumped back, pulling his coers up without realizing. Keith’s eyes narrowed a bit as he leaned down more from his position on the bed. “What were you thinking?! You could have gotten killed, you could have lost the Blue Lion again!” He jumped right into leader mode, though he wasn’t a leader. 

Logic mode? Sure, that would work. Regardless, Lance had little time to process anything. He was alone in his room with Keith, who looked panicked ad annoyed. Looking around, he ignored the other as he took in his surroundings. Hunk’s vest and blanket, one of Pidge’s caterpillar guys, Shiro’s pillow? 

Lance sat up from the different colors and scents only to be shoved back down by Keith who dug under his arms. “I’m talking to you, Lance!” The younger let out a scream as he shook his head. “Kheheheheith,” he whined out through his laughter. It looked like Lance would be getting his fantasy after all.

[shastelly]

City - March Klance Prompts from MonthlyKlance- Day 26

Day 26 – City (Part 1 of 2)

"This place gives me the creeps."

 "You've said that already, Lance."  Keith grumped.

 "Like five times already," Pidge added.

 "Well it does."  Lance whined. He felt like his skin was crawling and something was lurking around the next corner and bad things were coming and all of those other bad feeling clichés had wrapped up into a ball and splatted right into him.

 "It's an abandoned city, that stretches for miles, it gives all of us the creeps." Shiro sighed.  It was unnerving building after building after building of nothingness.  He didn't blame Lance for feeling off.

 "I'm right there with you, but please stop talking about it.  Talking about it is not making me feel better."  Hunk whispered.

 "Sorry, Hunk."  Lance felt another shiver go down his spine.  Someone or something was watching them.  They had come down to investigate a distress signal.  They'd loaded up in Green and Black and headed down.  There didn't seem to be a reason for all of the other lions and though Green was the best for doing scans, she was a little small and Black was big enough they could all comfortably ride along.  

 They found the distress signal embedded in a giant spire in the center of town, but apparently, they were a little late.  There was no one here.  It was weird, there weren't any bodies, there wasn't sign of a battle, just empty nothingness.  So now they were doing some snooping trying to figure out what had happened to the people who lived here.

 "They must have been about human sized.  See the steps and doors are all the right size for us."  Pidge commented.

 "The windows are triangles."  Keith frowned at the buildings and their oddly shaped eyes.

 "The buildings are made of something like concrete.  It's a mixture, there is some of the local stone mixed in it." Hunk commented.  "I don't see any cars, wonder if they walked everywhere or there was some kind of public transportation."

 "Or maybe they were just fast or maybe they flew."  Lance offered sharply, still uncomfortable.  "Either way they are gone.  How long are we going to stay here?"

 "Lance, if this is some new weapon of the Galra we need to understand what it was or what the tactic was or why all these people are gone."  Allura was watching from the castle.  She was saddened by the state of the planet. Empty places reminded her of what she had lost.

 "I am still not able to get any scans past the atmosphere."  Coran's voice spoke through the coms.  "At least it is not interfering with the communications."

 "I just don't see what else we are going to find here?"  Lance fidgeted.  

 "Maybe we'd find something in one of the houses?  Like a newspaper or something?  Or mabye a computer?"  Hunk offered.

 "What about like a government center or something?"  Keith tried.  "I mean the signal was just in that statue in the middle of town, but maybe there's some kind of office or something?"

 "All solid ideas lets split up and go check them out.  Pidge, you and I will start checking the residences.  Keith and Hunk search for some sort of government center or offices.  Lance…"

 "Shiro, I'd like to head up one of these tall buildings.  I can use the scope to keep an eye on things, see if there is anyone further out or just maybe avoiding us."  Lance thrummed his fingers against the sniper rifle that appeared in his hands.

 "Okay, Lance,” Shiro nodded.  He wasn't feeling quite as off as Lance, but he respected the kid’s instincts, and something was obviously bugging him.

 Lance entered the building of his choice.  It was about fifteen stories high and was one of the tallest in this part of the town.  The building was open in the center all the way up to a skylight.  There were balconies for each floor all around the edge. He shrugged and activated his jet pack, using it to jump up from balcony to balcony until he reached the top. Stairs were overrated.  He smiled to himself.  He found a door that led to a ramp that went up and out onto a flat roof. The middle was glass, but the outer edges were covered in rooftop gardens, divided into little squares, probably one for each apartment below.  Lance walked the parameter and then picked a spot where he could see both Shiro and Pidge's area and Keith and Hunk's.  Lance made himself comfortable and started scanning the area.  The feeling of his skin crawling had slacked, but he still felt he had missed something, and he was worried.

 Two varga later he was beginning to think it was all just in his head.

 "Okay, so I'm still confused.  It looks like everything was situation normal and then just poof, gone.  No notes, no warnings, no hey something bad might happen, I haven't even found a conspiracy theory."  Hunk sighed.

 "We have not found any significant clues either.  It's strange. I mean they activated that signal."  Pidge hummed, worried.  

 "To just disappear, it's wrong." Allura spoke over the com.

 "Lance, anything?"  Shiro asked, looking up to the sky where Lance was somewhere above him in the building.

 "Nope." He popped the P at the end in frustration.

 "Alright, I'm calling this.  Time to head back to the Lions."  Shiro did not like leaving behind a mystery, but there was only so much they could do.

 "So, we call it Roanoke and pack up?"  Lance quipped.

 "Roa…what?" Allura asked.

 "Ancient earth history.  It was a colony that all the people disappeared from there.  No one ever figured out what happened to them." Keith answered.

 "Keith got a reference?" Lance's smirk could be heard in his voice.

 "I know stuff."  Keith defended.

 "Keith knows stuff."  Pidge defended.  "Weird history, conspiracy theories, mothman, bigfoot…"

 "Just stop helping Pidge."  Keith huffed.

 "Shiro, I'm going to hang up here until you guys get to the lions."  Lance announced.

 "Okay, Lance."  Shiro didn't think there was any reason to worry.  

 They were nearly back to the Lions when it all went sideways.

 "Paladins! We have a Galra fleet incoming.  Three cruisers and fighters."  Coran called over the coms.  "I have the particle barrier up."

 "We can hold them until you get here, but please hurry."  Allura already sounded strained.

 "Double time, Paladins!  Lance move it."  Shiro yelled.

 Lance jumped up and ran to the stairs.  He took a flying leap from the top balcony and glided down to the ground floor with his jet pack.  He bent his knees and landed a little roughly putting his hands down to stabilize himself. He shrieked when he felt something touch his back.

 "Lance?!"  Keith and Shiro yelled for him.

 He spun around pulling his bayard up level as he did and came face to face with a small creature.  It was about three feet tall with blue feathers and a beak.  Its eyes were wide and intelligent.  Its legs were human like, but it had wings and arms.  It was wearing a soft pink shift and that's were Lance decided to shift to they and not it, because this clearly wasn't an animal.

 "Hey, there."  Lance lowered the bayard and stretched out a hand.  "Hi. I'm Lance."

 "Are you leaving?" The bird person chirped at him.

 "Yeah. We were leaving."  Lance spoke softly, the person before him seemed frightened.

 "Will you take us with you?  We are afraid."  Two big tears rolled out of their eyes.

 "Okay, who are you?"  Lance asked quietly.

 "Trill, I am the oldest of us.  We don't know why everyone left us behind.  We are afraid."  Their little body had started shaking.

 "Who left you?" Lance frowned.

 "Mommy and Daddy and everyone.  We were in our day place, where we stayed when they worked, but then something happened, and they were all gone, and we were alone.  We don't have any more food and we are hungry."

 "Lance are you okay?"  Keith demanded.

 "Yeah, but you guys head up without me.  I've found some natives.  I need to get them somewhere safe."

 "Lance, we need you in Blue, they can wait until we return."  Allura responded sharply.

 "Allura, they're kids."  Lance corrected.  He was not just leaving them here.

 "There are only three cruisers we can take them."  Keith stated confidently.

 "Alright, as soon as Shiro drops Keith and Hunk at the castle, Coran will come down to you with a pod to load up the children.  How many are there?"  Allura asked.

 "Um…Trill, how many of you are there?" Lance turned back to the child.

 "This many."  Trill held up ten fingers and four feathers, "Oh wait, I forgot me."  They added a fifth feather.

 "Fifteen Allura, and Trill said they were the oldest and they are only about three feet tall, so I don't think it will be an issue for the shuttle pod." Lance provided.

 Meanwhile with the lions…

 "Pidge, we need you to run interference while I take Keith and Hunk to their lions."  Shiro ordered.

 "On it. I have something new I've been wanting to give a good trial; this will be perfect."  Pidge rubbed her hands together with what Lance often called "evil glee".  

 "Sounds good Pidge, just be careful."  Shiro worried.  He flew toward the castle but kept his eyes on the Green Lion and her pilot.  Black knew where she was going.  

 The Green Lion cloaked and then suddenly reappeared on the other side of the ships approaching.  They turned to fire and the fighters moved to intercept, before they got there and before any shots hit, the Green Lion cloaked.  A couple of dobashes later she appeared in a completely different sector of space.

 "Pidge, either you've got some new holograms, or you've figured out how to fold space." Hunk laughed from behind Shiro, apparently, he had been watching over his shoulder.

 "You like them?" Pidge smiled.

 "Love them." Hunk answered.

 "Very nice work, Pidge."  Shiro commended.  Shiro hurried to the castle and barely stopped long enough for Hunk and Keith to exit Black before turning and heading back to help Pidge.

 "Guys, a contingent of fighters is headed toward the planet."  Pidge called out, unable to distract all of them at once.

 "I'm heading back,” Shiro called to her.  "Lance, get to cover, I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull them all back."

 "On it."  Lance turned back to Trill.  "So, is there somewhere safe you can go?  Some place strong?"

 "Why?"  The little bird creature's feathers fluffed out and they shook again.

 "There might be some trouble coming and we just want to keep you safe.  I'm a Paladin of Voltron and it's my job."

 Trill cocked their head to the side and chirped, "Okay.  There is a place where we would go for storms?"

 "That sounds perfect,” Lance smiled his approval and watched was the feathers smoothed themselves out again.  "Let's get the rest of you and go there now."

 Trill nodded and grabbed Lance's hand with his little one pulling him forward to a door. Inside there were fourteen more little bird creatures ranging from about a foot tall to nearly Trill's height. They were all sorts of bright colors - yellows, greens, blues, and reds were dominant.  

 "You are all beautiful."  Lance smiled. "I'm Lance.  I'm a Paladin of Voltron and with Trill's help we are going to take you somewhere safe."  Lance spoke carefully noting a lot of fluffed feathers and shaking in the room.  Some of them with cheeping like baby chicks and he wondered just how young they were.

 "We need to go to the storm shelter."  Trill announced confidently.  Their little head nodding to several in the room.  They moved to pick up the smallest, a little red bird. "Lance, could you carry Trex and Ywella?"  Trill brushed a wing across two smaller yellow birds.  "They don't walk well yet.  Everyone else can walk."  Trill noted proudly.

 "I can do that."  Lance smiled gently at the two shaking babies and gently lifted them.  They were so light it felt like he wasn't caring anything at all, definitely lighter than a human baby that size would have been.  "Okay Trill, lead the way."

 They moved out of the building and down the street.  Trill said it was only a few moments walk ahead.  Lance didn't know how long a moment was on this planet, but hoped it wasn't too long.

 "Lance, how's it going?"

 "We are moving to the shelter."  Lance responded.

 "There are still two fighters in bound, hurry."  Shiro warned.

 "Okay."  Lance looked back over his shoulder, practically expecting to see the fighters there already, but it would take them a little longer to reach them, that was if they even knew to look for them or where just scanning the planet to see why Voltron had been down there.

 Trill chirped up ahead and Lance saw him pointing down.  As he got closer, he could see a metal hatch of some sort embedded into the concrete surface.  Lance set the little ones down and went to open the door, it was heavy and he had to strain, but he managed to get it flipped open, dropping it rather ungracefully to the ground, thankfully everyone was out of the way and it was on hinges.  He looked down into the hole and was surprised to see it set up very much like the building he had been in earlier, an open area down the middle with balconies all around.

 Trill made some sort of sound and about ten of the other bird children started flapping their wings and jumped into the hole, gliding down to land on the third floor down.  He did not see any stairs.  He hoped his jet pack could handle it.  He looked back to the five remaining.

 "These can't fly."  Trill noted. "I can carry the three smallest, but these are too big for me."  The two in question ruffled green and red feathers and made a sad little chirp sound that was almost apologetic.

 "Okay, Trill, go ahead and take the littlest one there first and I will wait up here, okay?"  Lance pulled his bayard and watched the sky as Trill made his first trip.  He didn't have too much trouble, though he had to flap hard to get back up.  Lance again worried about how young these creatures were.  

 "I need to catch my breath."  Trill announced when he reached the top.

 "Then I will take these two."  Lance gathered the two, in question, "What are your names?"  He asked.

 "Brew." Chirped the green one.  

 "Pip." He barely heard squeak from the red one.

 "Alright, Brew and Pip.  Hold on. I have to use one hand to control my jet pack and it might not be as nice a ride as flying with wings, but I'll try."  The two nodded and settled under his right arm.  He jumped into the hole and activated the pack just before the landing he wanted.  It was a little jerky and the little ones squawked in alarm.  Pip actually managed to claw him a little, but it wasn't bad. He got his feet under him and sat them down apologizing.  They cooed at him and Pip brushed a wing up against the scratches they had left that had torn into his under armor.   The other children took the two, literally under wing and he jumped out and fired the pack again heading to the top.

 "Trill, you ready?"  Trill nodded and picked up Trex before moving down into the bunker.

 Lance was watching him land when the sound of the Galra fighters approaching reached his ears.  He knelt down and pulled Ywella behind him to watch for the fighters out of his scope.  

 "Trill, sorry to rush you, but we need to hurry, can one of the older ones get Ywella?"  Lance called down.  He watched the fighters approach, they weren't firing yet and buzzed overhead before turning sharply and heading back there way.  It was unlikely that they weren't spotted being out in the open like this.

 A little green bird child appeared at the top along with another blue one.  Between the two of them they grabbed Ywella and awkwardly dove back into the bunker.  They chirped and squawked, but Lance heard Trill talking to them and offering support and they yelled up when they had landed safely.

 "Everyone back away into a safe room."  Lance yelled.  When the first fighter took a shot, he knew they'd been spotted.  He fired back, moving to the door.  He had to drop the rifle to get the door lifted, but once it was far enough over, he just let it fall, grabbing the rifle again and shooting off more rounds.  He managed to wing one of the fighters and it wobbled off course, pulling up and away, but the other barreled toward him.  He fired and moved, trying to draw the attack away from the bunker and find shelter for himself.  The fighter and its blasts followed him.  He ran to one of the surrounding buildings and dove forward around a corner as the warmth from a too close hit lit up his back.

 "Quiznak."  Lance peered around the corner and waited for the fighter to make a return, but it didn't. In fact, he didn't hear it at all anymore.

 "Lance, what's going on down there."  Keith's voice interrupted his thoughts.

 "I have the kids in a bunker.  There were two fighters, I winged one, but now they've both disappeared.  I don't know if they landed somewhere or just took off."

 "Why aren't you in the bunker?"  Keith snapped.

 "Wasn't time.  I'm going there now.  I'm not sure how good the signal is going to be from down there, so I'm sending you the coordinates."  

 "Okay, be careful, if you have Galra on foot and they saw the bunker…" Keith paused.

 "I know. They'll be coming.  I think I can set up a pretty good spot to cover the door once I'm down there.  Just don't take too long, huh?" Lance chuckled a little nervously.

 "We're doing our best."  Pidge's voice cut across the conversation.  "Keith, focus, we need Red over here."

 "On it."  

 "Be safe, Lance."  Hunk called, though the noises in the background indicated clear distraction.

 "Lance, Coran can't get through with the pod.  There are too many fighters and the pod just doesn't have the maneuverability to avoid them."  Allura apologized.

 "I get it, we're good for now."  Lance managed to get the door opened and through a sweat inducing, muscle straining feet of acrobatics and jet pack usage, pulled the door closed behind him as he entered the bunker.  He could hear the children below chirping quietly.  

 "Guys?"  Lance tried the com.  "Keith?"  No answer just static.  Lance sighed and began preparation to guard his position.

 On the other side of the town the second fighter lander next to the downed first. The Galra soldiers climbed out and waited for the undamaged droids that had been aboard to join them.  

 "Commander?"

 "Report."

 "One fighter damaged, but we spotted a Paladin and at least one Braxarian."

 "Are you sure?!"  The Commander's voice nearly echoed it was so loud.

 "Yes, they are hard to miss."

 "I need them.  Capture and bring every single one of them to me!"

 "And the Paladin?"

 "Bring him if you can, if not eliminate the threat.  He will not stop me from getting my prize.  Are you orders clear?"

 "Yes sir, vrepit Sa!"

 "Vrepit Sa!"

 To be continued in Day 27 MAGIC

[jenanigans1207]

First of Forever [Klance]

Finally I can share with you all my Secret Santa gift for @lancesgalaxy! I was told Klance so I hope you enjoy this soft Klance with a side of Adashi! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

--x--x--x--x--x

Lance finished zipping his jacket up over his scarf and headed out the door, shutting it tightly to lock the warm air inside. It was snowing big beautiful flakes that didn't fall to the ground; instead they floated lightly on the breeze and danced delicately around him as he headed carefully down the driveway. This was his favorite type of snow, filling the air with that tangible feeling of magic that was associated with Christmas. He tucked his hands into his pockets, smiling as he saw his breath puff out in front of him. Just as he was reaching the end of the driveway, a car pulled to a stop in front of him.

Keith smiled at him from the driver's seat a moment before Lance heard the doors unlock. He ducked in quickly, sighing at the warm air in the car. Keith was smiling at him, his long hair under a red beanie that looked so good on him it was almost unfair. Lance, for the life of him, couldn't pull off hats. They just never looked good on him. Keith, on the other hand, looked great in every hat he had ever tried on, but beanies were Lance's favorite. There was something about the way they pushed his hair over his eyes, the way his hair stuck out of the sides and back, curling up against gravity, that made Lance weak at the knees. Not to mention how cozy Keith looked.

“Ready?” Keith asked, even though he was already putting the car in drive and letting off the break.

“Absolutely.” Lance replied, settling himself into the passenger seat.

Keith and Lance had been dating for a few years and, every year since they had gotten together, Keith had taken Lance to help pick out their gift for Shiro and Adam. Keith was terrible at gift selection when it came to anyone but Lance. For the absolute life of him, he could not pick out a gift. It wasn't even that his gifts were unsuccessful. It was that he'd go between so many options over and over again until he successfully talked himself out of all of them. Lance wasn't there so much to give Keith ideas as he was to force Keith to stick with one of his ideas. Typically whatever he first picked out was what Lance voted for because, no matter how much Keith questioned it, his gut was almost always right.

“Whatcha thinking this year?” Lance asked as they continued the drive. They were already halfway to the mall and suddenly he was burning up in his winter gear. Still, he knew he'd be freezing once he got out, so he refused to remove anything. That was another way he and Keith differed— Keith was almost never cold. While Lance was bundled up in a scarf, winter coat and gloves, Keith was in a beanie and casual hoodie with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Somehow he lacked the ability to feel cold and Lance was indescribably jealous.

“Shiro said they need some kitchen stuff but that's boring.” Keith clicked on his turn signal, glancing over his shoulder as he did so. Lance watched the way his hair slid over his shoulder and back as he moved, marveling at how long it had gotten.

Seized by the sudden urge to touch it, he reached out and gently threaded his fingers into the silky strands. “Gifts don't have to be extravagant and exciting, you know. If they tell you something they specifically want, that's what you should get.”

“I know,” Keith replied with a sigh. “It's just— who gets excited over getting a whisk for Christmas?”

Lance laughed then, the sound coming easy to him. He looked at Keith fondly, shaking his head, noting the way his laughter brought a smile to Keith's face. “Okay, a compromise. Two things. A boring kitchen item and something a little cooler.”

“A lot cooler. Cool enough to come from me.” Keith replied with false sincerity as they pulled into the mall.

Unsurprisingly, the mall parking lot was backed up all the way to the main road. They had to sit in a line of traffic waiting to get in and then hunt aisle after aisle until they found a parking spot. Christmas was only a few days away and Lance had been nagging Keith for over a week to get his shopping complete for this very reason. Keith, in response, had been teasing him for over a week about how he was done shopping for Lance, how he had been for a long time and how certain he was that Lance was going to love it. As much as Lance refused to rise to the challenge, he couldn't help the curiosity that nagged at him, making him analyze everything Keith said for a clue.

Finally they managed to park and climbed out of the car. The cool air was a welcomed reprieve and Lance sucked in a deep breath as he waited for Keith to come around the car so they could head in. They had gotten a great parking spot as it was, right by the entrance, and Lance willingly ditched his gloves before they were even inside so he was able to thread his fingers through Keith's, leaning slightly into his shoulder.

Keith was warm to the touch, just like Lance knew he'd be. His hands were soft and just the right size to fit into Lance's, holding him tightly so they didn't get separated in the crowd. In contrast, Lance's hands were always cold. He was constantly pressing them to the small of Keith's back or the inside of his thigh, making Keith jump and shove him away suddenly. Lance hated his cold hands most of the time, but they made it even sweeter when he got to hold Keith's hand, to feel that connection between them; warm and comforting and right.

“Do we need to shop for anyone else?” Lance asked as they dodged a group of people.

“Nope,” Keith gave his hand a squeeze. “I sent my parents something already and I've had your gift wrapped in my room for nearly a month.”

“You know, you don't always have to brag.” Lance purposely bumped his shoulder. “I've also had your gift for awhile and you don't hear me bringing it up constantly.”

Keith shrugged. “It's not my fault you've never been good at bragging.”

Lance pulled his hand away suddenly and shoved a laughing Keith away. Keith stumbled a few steps before coming back, the way he always did, and reaching for Lance again. With a dramatic sigh, Lance allowed his cold hand to once again be enveloped in the warmth of Keith’s and they finally entered the mall. The inside was slightly less crowded than the outside, Lance realized with surprise, and they were able to weave expertly through the crowd and to the stores they needed.

As soon as they entered the first store, Lance was immediately drawn to the large array of scarves. He headed straight to them, letting Keith come at his own pace.

“How does this look?” Lance asked as he finished wrapping a blanket scarf around his neck, his own scarf already discarded at his feet. The new scarf was so big that it covered half of his face, leaving just his eyes exposed.

“It looks good. But, it would look better if—” Keith reached forward and tugged the scarf even higher so that it was covering the entirety of Lance's face. “There, that looks perfect.”

The scarf muffled Lance's indignant noise but it was still audible to Keith who burst out in laughter. Lance could feel Keith’s eyes on him as he unwound the scarf from around his neck, hanging it back up on the shelf next to him. Keith was smiling in a way that was so warm and fond, Lance couldn’t bring himself to be mad about the joke.

Finally, Keith moved his eyes from Lance to the shelf of scarves next to them. He never wore scarves— literally ever. Lance had never seen him with a scarf on— but that didn’t stop him from picking up a ridiculous pink and yellow striped one. “What about this one for me?”

Lance gasped dramatically, “Is it possible?” He said, clutching a hand over his heart. “You do know that colors other than red and black exist? I was starting to lose hope.”

With a sneer, Keith reached out and gently smacked Lance with the scarf before depositing it back on the shelf. “I hate you a lot.”

“Is that why you spend every day with me?” Lance replied sweetly, cozying up to Keith’s side.

With a sigh, Keith slid an arm around Lance’s waist. “That can change.”

“Is that a threat, Kogane? Because you can pick out this Christmas gift by yourself.”

“Fine,” Keith dragged Lance away from the scarves and further into the store. “I’ll break up with you after our Christmas shopping is done.”

“Such a romantic.” Lance laughed, shaking his head.

Keith paused in front of the kitchen ware, scanning it while absentmindedly answering, “You love me.”

“I do,” Lance said and it was true— he loved Keith more than anything else in the world. More than he ever thought he could love anyone. He loved Keith in a way that he couldn’t express in words and that was precisely why he was going to make this Christmas their most special one yet.

They lapsed into silence while Keith shuffled his way through the kitchen items, looking more perplexed than anything. Lance watched quietly for a little bit, enjoying the way Keith would pick up each utensil and inspect it before setting it back down. Keith was, actually, a pretty decent cook so he should feel at least somewhat in his element. But the look on his face suggested otherwise.

Without realizing it, Lance had zoned out slightly. He only brought his attention back when he heard a clatter and noticed Keith moving suddenly. Lance reached out automatically to steady Keith as he dug his way to the bottom of a bin next to them, gripping his hips and holding him steady until he finally reappeared holding a set of rainbow kitchen utensils.

“He’s going to love it,” Keith said, presenting it to Lance. It was true, it included everything he and Adam were missing in their kitchen plus some.

“He’s going to hate you for it,” Lance remarked, unable to stifle the smile that came when he glanced back at it again. Rainbow kitchen utensils for two newly married men. He could just see their faces now. It was going to be priceless.

“Hate us for it,” Keith amended. “We’re buying it.”

“If I'm wrapping it, I'm only putting your name on it.” Lance said, knowing he had the upper hand. Keith was great at a lot of things, but wrapping gifts was not one of them. The only gifts he wrapped himself were those for Lance and they always looked like they had gone through a paper shredder. Lance found it endearing, of course, and never minded his own gifts looking like that but he always insisted on wrapping their gifts for everyone else.

Keith was already sliding his fingers through Lance's again, heading towards the front of the store. “As if they won't know it's also from you. Shiro has a sense for that sort of thing. Such a dad.”

Lance stopped abruptly, turning to smile broadly at Keith. “You just gave me a great idea for his other gift.”

—

Shiro and Adam always decorated their house to the nines. Every window, every tree and bush, every inch of the roofline was covered in lights, illuminating the house so brightly that it could be seen from the very end of the street. The inside of their house was just as intricately decorated: garland hanging from the stairway and in all the doors, ornaments hanging from strings in the windows, figurines everywhere and two Christmas trees. Lance loved it. Keith loved it too, even if he always teased them about going overboard.

“Merry Christmas, guys!” Adam said as soon as he opened the door.

Lance was the first to step up and embrace him. “Merry Christmas! Thank you for having us over!”

Keith followed Lance through the door, pausing to give Adam an awkward half hug since his arms were full of gifts. Lance was carrying the bags which made it easier for him to throw his arms around Shiro, immediately gushing about their decorations. Shiro proudly pointed out all the new things they had added as he took some of the gifts from Keith and threw an arm around his shoulder.

Together they moved into the family room, depositing their gifts under the tree alongside the few that were already there. This was one of Keith's favorite traditions— spending Christmas evening with these three, exchanging gifts and then eating dinner, topping the night off with a movie and some homemade popcorn.

“Hey,” Lance was glancing between Shiro and Adam, an eyebrow raised. “Why are you both wearing hoodies indoors?”

It was a valid question, there was a fire roaring in the fireplace and the heat was on. Lance had already stripped his winter gear and the flush on his cheeks was a clear indicator that he still felt too hot.

Adam and Shiro glanced at each other, both clearly trying to stifle a smile. In lieu of an answer, Shiro bent down and snagged two boxes out from under the tree, handing one to each of his guests. The guys took it skeptically, tearing through the wrapping paper. Like with most things, they were perfectly in sync, both opening their boxes at the exact same moment to reveal the sweater inside. They had matching blue sweaters with reindeer dancing in the middle. Keith opened his mouth to say something, only to pause when he noticed both Shiro and Adam removing their hoodies to reveal that they, too, had the same sweater on.

“Did you…” Keith looked at each person in the room. “Did you get us matching family sweaters?”

“This is amazing.” Lance said, already setting his box down and reaching for the hem of his own red and white striped sweater.

Keith watched as Lance pulled his sweater over his head, revealing a thin strip of skin as his undershirt came untucked. Lance could feel Keith's gaze on him and it made his heart rate spike.

“Do you like them?” Shiro asked.

“We love them.” Lance answered as he settled the new sweater over his undershirt, tugging the collar until it felt exactly right.

With a sigh and a small smile, Keith discarded his own hoodie, tugging the blue sweater over his head and immediately pushing the sleeves up to his elbows. “Love it.” He confirmed.

Lance loved seeing Keith in blue. Even though he associated red with Keith, blue mixed with his dark hair really made his eyes jump out and they were undoubtedly Lance's favorite feature. Keith's eyes were both breathtakingly gorgeous and incredibly expressive and he could stare into them for hours without ever getting sick of it. Plus, after taking the time to learn Keith so well, Lance could tell exactly how he was feeling with just one quick glance at his eyes. It made him feel indescribably precious to have that insight into Keith.

“Eventually we'll have to take a group photo.” Shiro dropped down onto the couch, draping an arm across the back of it and making room for Adam to settle in next to him, which he did.” But until then, presents?”

The others agreed, Keith perching on an armchair and Lance settling himself onto the armrest, leaning into Keith's shoulder.

“We'll start,” Lance replied after a moment, extending a package towards their hosts. He glanced briefly at Keith to note the way he was biting the corner of his lip to keep a smile off his face.

Shiro offered the package to Adam who shook his head kindly, allowing Shiro to open it. Shiro took a moment to tear through the tape and then tore the paper off in one long strip, dropping it unceremoniously to the ground. He pulled at the tape holding the box shut, eventually giving up on his struggle and handing it over to Adam. Adam made quick work of it and flipped the box open, immediately bursting into laughter at the sight inside.

Lance glanced at Keith again to see him outright grinning and it made his heart soar.  “Do you like your gaytensils?” He asked as Shiro picked up the rainbow measuring cup.

“Gaytensils?” Keith glanced up at Lance.

“You don't like that?” Absently, Lance was running his fingers through the hair at the base of Keith's neck, occasionally grazing across the soft skin there and eliciting a shiver. “I've been waiting, like, three days to use that. I thought of it right after we bought them.”

“Terrible.” Keith shook his head fondly. “Take it back.”

Lance glanced up and met Adam's gaze. “Tough crowd this year.”

“Gaytensils,” Adam was practically wheezing, nearly doubled over into Shiro's lap, holding the whisk and spatula in one hand. “This is amazing.”

“See? Some people have good taste!” Lance nudged Keith playfully, only to get an eye roll in response.

It was another minute or so before Adam managed to compose himself, setting the box aside with the lid open so he could still glance at it occasionally and laugh.

“Okay, okay.” He took a deep breath, wiping at his eyes, “Next is for you, babe.”

Adam reached forward and grabbed a package out from under the tree, dropping it in Shiro's lap. Shiro lifted the package, turning it from side to side, listening for movement inside and feeling the weight of it. Unable to guess, he began to tear into the paper, looking perplexed. As soon as the wrapping paper was gone, his eyes lit up. He flipped the box around so the others could see while he leaned in to kiss Adam thank you. In his hands was a box set of Friends, autographed by the cast members. Lance laughed out loud.

“We're watching this tonight!” Shiro declared as he set it down on the ground at his feet. “There is nothing anybody can say to get out of it.”

“You know, suddenly I'm feeling terribly ill. I think we need to go home right now, immediately.” Keith pressed a hand to his stomach, leaning forward and pretending to be sick.

Shiro threw a pillow from the couch at him.

“Here, Lance, you open our gift. Since Keith clearly doesn't deserve it.” Shiro handed Lance a small envelope.

Keith vaulted the pillow back across the room at Shiro.

Laughing, Lance tore the envelope open and pulled out two gift certificates. The first was for dinner at their favorite fancy restaurant and the second was for a couples massage. Lance jumped up from his seat and darted across the room to envelop them both in a thank you hug. He loved having a reason to dress fancy and he absolutely loved seeing Keith in a suit. There were no words to describe the way Lance felt every time he saw Keith dressed up. He could never properly express how easily Keith took his breath away and sent his heart soaring high into the sky. Giving Lance a chance to see Keith dressed up again was a gift in and of itself, the rest was just a bonus.

Keith appeared next to Lance, leaning down to make it a four way hug and murmuring a thank you of his own. As they detangled themselves, Lance returned to his spot on the chair and Keith grabbed another gift. He plopped it down in Lance's lap as he dropped back into the chair and Lance immediately smiled at how it was wrapped. He wasted no time in tearing into it, not bothering to care about the paper at all since it was already mutilated. Inside was a soft white blanket.

“Unfold it,” Keith murmured quietly in his ear, reaching for one corner and helping flatten it out so Lance could see.

The inside of the blanket was covered in photos of them that Keith had gotten printed onto the blanket itself. Lance's hand immediately flew to cover his mouth as he inspected it, other hand tracing delicately over each picture. He could feel a lump forming in the back of his throat. As he looked at each photo, he was overcome with an incredible feeling of love. Here Keith was, giving him this gift with indisputable evidence of their love. Lance turned to him, gently grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him into a fierce kiss. He knew words would never be able to accurately express how much he loved this gift— how much he loved Keith— so he did his best to pour every ounce of emotion into the kiss so Keith would have even the tiniest chance of understanding how touched he was.

A moment into the kiss, Lance could feel Keith's hand splayed out across his back, pulling him even closer. His other hand settled on Lance's hip to hold him steady on the arm rest. Faintly Lance could hear Shiro grabbing the next gift and passing it to Adam, so he pulled away finally, planting one more soft kiss on Keith's lips before thanking him with as much fervor as possible, draping the blanket over both of their laps and smiling tenderly down at it.

Once Lance finally settled his attention back where it should be, he saw Adam with a gift in his lap. Adam tore the wrapping on the package gently, doing his best to peel back the tape and not rip any of the paper. When they had first started dating, it had driven Shiro nuts. Now, however, after countless years together, it was one of the silly things that made Adam the man Shiro loved. And now, no matter how ridiculous he still found it, he wouldn’t change it.

“Wow!” Adam said as he pulled back the wrapping paper to reveal the gift inside. “A polaroid camera! Babe, I love it!” He flipped the box over and scanned the back of it before leaning in to plant a kiss on Shiro.

“I know it’s not exactly the type of camera you wanted—” Shiro began.

Adam cut in quickly and emphatically, “I love it though! It’s perfect!”

“Oh? Perfect?” Shiro said with a wry smile, another, bigger box in his hands, “So you don’t want this one then?”

“Well, I didn’t say that.” Adam replied, gently setting down his now open polaroid camera box and reaching for the one in Shiro’s lap.

Lance leaned into Keith’s shoulder, trying his best to keep his heart under control. There were only a few presents left to give and he had yet to give Keith his gift. He hoped beyond hope that Keith would like it. As they watched Adam remove the paper at a painstakingly slow speed, Keith slipped his arm around Lance, pulling him closer and dropping his head gently onto Lance’s. Briefly Lance wondered how he’d ever survived a Christmas that wasn’t set exactly like this: surrounded by the man he loved and his found family. He loved his own family, of course, and they would go visit them in a few days, but for today, this was absolutely and unbelievably perfect.

“Takashi! You didn’t!” Adam threw the last of the paper to the ground, a huge smile breaking out over his face.

It seemed like yesterday, though it had probably been nearly two months ago, that Shiro had called Lance and Keith at the store, desperate for their input on which camera to get Adam. He’d loved photography all his life and always talked about getting into it, but never in much detail so Shiro hadn’t had much to go off of. So Keith and Lance had planted themselves in front of the computer, googling all the different types of cameras in front of Shiro and weighing the pros and cons with him over the phone until they had come to a unanimous decision. Then, Shiro had dropped it off at their house because Adam was notoriously nosey and undoubtedly would have found it and guessed what it was.

“Is it the right one?” The worry was clear in Shiro’s voice as he searched Adam’s expression.

“The right one? Takashi, this is the nicest camera on the market!”

“Does that mean you like it?” Lance laughed at Shiro’s question, turning to bury his head into Keith’s shoulder. Keith shushed him quietly, trying to stifle his own laughter.

Adam set the box down and stood up completely, turning to pull Shiro to his feet as well. “I love it.” Adam said a moment before pulling Shiro down into a sweet kiss. After they separated, Adam wrapped his arm around Shiro and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”

While they held each other, Keith dug the last of their gifts to Shiro and Adam out from under the tree. The pile was dwindling and there were only three presents left— two of which they were about to give to the others. Lance’s eyes lingered on his gift to Keith and he knew it was coming up next. Finally Shiro and Adam sat down again and Keith handed their gift to Them. Adam busied himself with opening his camera, setting everything up and playing around with some practice shots as Shiro opened his.

Shiro laughed out loud when he opened his gift, a mug that said ‘Universe’s Best Dad’. “You have to stop pretending I’m your dad,” He laughed, practically doubling over. Adam took a picture of it, smiling at the screen on his camera.

“You have to stop acting like our dad and we will,” Keith replied, also laughing.

Adam reached for his box next, letting the camera hang by its strap around his neck. He made quicker work than usual of the wrapping paper but still attempted to tear it as little as possible. Both of them burst out into laughter when Adam pulled out a matching mug inscribed with ‘Married to the Universe's Best Dad’.

“You two are killing it this year,” Shiro remarked as he set the boxes down.

A moment passed and suddenly Lance stood up, insisting that he needed to go get a drink. Shiro met his gaze and they shared a long look before Lance turned on his heel and headed into the kitchen. He braced his hands on the sink, leaning forward and taking a few deep breaths. It was now or never.

He could hear them in the other room, could hear Shiro explaining that the next gift was for Keith, from Lance. His heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest in anticipation as he heard Keith say, “I’ll wait for Lance to come back before I open it.”

“Go ahead,” Lance yelled over his shoulder, closing his eyes and trying not to faint. “I’ll be back in two seconds. You can start opening it now.”

As Lance could hear the tearing of the wrapping paper, he pushed off the counter and headed back into the room. He paused in the doorway, meeting Shiro’s gaze over Keith’s shoulder. Adam was sitting next to Shiro on the couch, camera up, taking endless photos of Keith as he unwrapped the gift. They were both smiling because they knew what was inside, they had practically celebrated when Lance told them what his gift was.

Finally, after what felt like the longest moments of Lance’s life, Keith finished pulling the wrapping paper off to reveal the small black box. He could feel his hands trembling as he stepped forward then, trying to remind himself to breathe, just breathe. In and out. Keith opened the box, revealing the simple, elegant silver ring inside.

Keith whipped around then, barely giving Lance time to sink to his knee. Their eyes met, Keith perched on the edge of one of the arm chairs and Lance on one knee before him. There was a mixture of emotions on Keith’s face— shock, wonder and most of all, love.

Lance took a deep breath and dove in. “Keith, I tried to write this speech a million times already but I could never do it. Because I can’t think of the right words to explain how much I love you. I don’t know how to express to you that you are the best and brightest thing in my life. There is absolutely nothing in my life, good or bad, that I don’t want you there for. There is nothing on this Earth that I don’t want to share with you. Okay, well, that’s not exactly true. You still can’t have any of my oreos.” Keith laughed, reaching out to grab Lance’s hand and squeezing it tightly as he continued. “But besides that, I want you there. For everything. Always. I want you, Keith, forever. So, will you marry me?”

And just like that, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Lance could feel the tears pooling in his own eyes as he tried to express his feelings and Keith was blinking away tears too. Behind him, Shiro had a hand pressed to his mouth, his own eyes watery. Lance couldn’t see Adam’s eyes from behind the camera but he could hear him sniffle so it was only fair to assume that he, too, was choked up.

“Yes,” Keith breathed suddenly, standing from his chair and basically tackling Lance. “Yes!”

They tumbled to the ground, laughing, and Keith pressed a kiss to Lance’s lips. Lance secured his arms around Keith as they hit the ground, relishing in the way Keith nuzzled his head into Lance’s shoulder, pressing gentle kisses against the skin of his neck. He could barely contain himself at the thought that he would get to live moments like this, with Keith, for the rest of his life.

After a moment, Keith pulled back, “Man, my gift is nowhere near as good.”

Lance laughed, brushing his fingers gently against Keith’s cheek. “Are you kidding? Your gift shows exactly why I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Plus, you said yes. There is no greater gift.”

“When did you get so soft?” Keith teased, but he made no move to pull away.

Lance rolled his eyes, replying sarcastically. “You’re right, this is totally unusual for me. I’m never soft. It’s like you’re marrying a stranger.”

“No,” Keith smiled so brilliantly it almost took Lance’s breath away. “I’m marrying the love of my life.”

Those words did take Lance's breath away as he stared up at Keith in wonder. He could hear Adam clicking away on his camera, could hear Shiro murmuring about how happy he was and how perfect they were together, but none of it fully reached him. All he could really hear was Keith's response, repeating over and over in his head. His words settled into Lance's chest, carving themselves into his heart so that he could never, not ever, forget this moment.

“I love you,” Lance breathed.

Keith had never looked more in love in his whole life, Lance thought. “I love you, too. Forever.”

At that moment, Shiro and Adam rushed over to them, hauling them off the ground and congratulating them. Hugs were being shared between everyone and Adam was snapping away on his camera. Finally, he insisted on a family photo, setting the camera up on a table across the room. They lined up, Lance on the end, then Keith, Shiro, and Adam finishing off the line. A light flashed on the camera, counting down. Everyone smiled and Keith held up his left hand, showing the ring.

In the photo, Adam and Shiro were smiling at the camera while Keith, with his hand up, was smiling softly at Lance who was grinning back at him. It was the perfect photo and Adam promised to send them a copy before the night was over.

The rest of the night was a blur or food and Friends— both real and the show— and the only thing Lance really remembered was catching Keith glancing down at his ring frequently, smiling as if he couldn't believe his luck. And, as Lance fell asleep pressed against Keith and warm under the blanket Keith had gotten him— the perfect representation of their love— he couldn't help but think that this was the first Christmas of forever and he couldn't wait for everything their future had in store.

[melalot]

About VLD Season 7

waI’m just making this post about my overall view of Season 7, and just my opinion on it and maybe shed some light in what seems to be a storm happening right now on Tumblr.

First of all I’m gonna do a run down of character by character then the plot.

Hunk: I am pretty sure we can all agree that this was Hunk’s great arc. And honestly? It was amazing! Guys! I never ever heard of Hunk talking about his families in the previous seasons! So we just saw this side of Hunk who honestly just loves his family? But I am going to back track here. Hunk got a new ability with his bayard! 

Here is what I am most impressed about Hunk this season. He was the one keeping the team together, and he was the glue. When they were stranded in space, we could clearly see Hunk not participating much in the “Sound off” but we did get to hear about his inner emotions. His fantasies about Earth. Hunk has grown so much though?? Like, when Keith was being all negative and the rest of the team HE held them together HE was the one who was vulnerable and said “I am scared too, we are just taking this out on each other out of fear.” 

And when Keith and Lance were fighting, and Keith flew away, and was going mad, he was the one who didn’t let him go, even though Keith wanted to, he was the one who didn’t lure them in the trap over Earth. Hunk showed so much potential this season and I love that we finally got his arc? 

Getting back to Earth though, man, he was so happy to finally be the place he calls home, and we could see how DEVASTATED he was to see it just CRUMBLE. When Hunk saw his teammates reunite with their families, he looked really happy for them. It broke me to see that Hunk couldn’t come to a family, but later on when talking to Keith, he broke. Saying how he fantasized about coming to a peaceful Earth, that he took for granted how the best welcoming he could of gotten was from his own family. And with the help of his teammates and Keith, he was strong. He looked for his family. He was scared. But the thing about Hunk is that he knows this, he acknowledges his feelings, he doesn’t push them aside. He works with it and is brave. And honestly Hunk went from someone who didn’t even wanna go and save the universe, to a person who grew to care about so many people. He finally got reunited with his family in the end and with Shay, it was lovely.

Keith: Alright! I know there was some controversy with Keith this season but I want to leave my input. I don’t like it that when Keith has one fall back, you make it seem like his development was a waste. Like when he was going mad, or when he said those hurtful things to his team, when he made fun of Lance. Guys!!! Keith is still HUMAN! (I mean he’s half Galra) BUT GUYS!! Keith is STILL developing. He isn’t going to turn into a different person like poof magic. No it takes time. He is still developing as a person, and yes he’s going to have fall backs like any other person! But guess what? He WAS MATURE and acknowledged it and APOLOGIZED. Now THAT is maturity, realizing your actions and knowing when to apologize for it. Keith was an awesome leader, I don’t care what you guys say. He went from being a reckless shit to doing things on his own to actually trying to keep the team together, because it was best for everyone. That even if they were lost in space or in any situation, they had each other. He knew everyones weakness and strong points, and he never downgraded someone. And Keith giving advice and being more open and Vulnerable? What he said to Hunk, that to be Brave you can be scared but you also can be strong while still being in fear. He saw a teammate, no... his friend going through some heavy shit and comforted him. Keith has grown a lot guys, I just wish you guys wouldn’t let these small fall backs just bombard this whole image of Keith. Keith was a foster child, no mother, father passed away, had conduct issues, got close to Shiro in the Garrison, had him missing, tried to find Voltron, he went from being a lone ass wolf to someone who can now stay with his team and call them friends. He truly cares about his team and he is not selfish.

Keith and Krolia: Now I loved, their relationship this season. Yes we got a little less screen time, but think about the things we did see? Them stuck in the prisoner thing from the generals. Her along side him in the Black Lion. Her pulling up a Simulator game and bonding with Keith and his friends. She was being a mother. And that scene where she said she was going to help Kolivan. We saw how distraught Keith looked, it looked like his world was crashing down, he just got his mother and now she has to leave again. Now Keith from the previous seasons would of been pissed off and let his emotions override him. But no, she said she was sorry to leave him for a second time and he said that it wasn’t goodbye. He knew they would see each other again. He gave her the knife, and he thanked her for the time he spent with her. He really cherished those moments with his mother. Then she said she loved him, and he said he loves her back, and he called her Mom TWICE in this scene, and then that hug? Gosh, That was such an emotional scene, he’s accepting feelings and he has finally accepted Krolia as his mother. This is exactly what I wanted from their relationship. Then obviously at the end she met back up with him at the hospital, which it was nice to see Keith wake up to a loved one.

Pidge: Now I don’t really have much for Pidge, but I do know she has been getting a lot of hate. And guys, I know she’s said hurtful things, especially to Lance. But she is also the youngest crew member there. She was away from her brother and father for such a long time and never gave up on them. Pidge still has some developing to do, but she does care for Lance guysss!!! Pidge is a pretty dense person, she’s got so many things on her mind that she doesn’t know that when she says something, it rubs off the wrong way sometimes, Lance has been shown to always have a front, and Pidge just hasn’t seen that he is actually hurt. I just want this Pidge hate to stop, like come on guys just relax this is normal and happens in real life, she will realize at some point and apologize.

Allura: Allura had a step back this season, but we saw more of her powers and her determination. Even though Earth wasn’t her home planet, she knew what it was like to lose her home and would do anything to protect another’s home. At the beginning Allura seemed annoyed at Lance, not going to lie. But then she suddenly, blushed and told him to stay safe? There is no doubt that Allura and Lance have developed a lot together, and Allura does care for Lance a lot. I loved this. I just hope Allura and Lance aren’t forced together because I mean, that would really suck... Allura is not over Lotor, we saw how she reacted when they were talking about him, I think she’s caught up on how good of a friend Lance has been to her, that she’s confused. But Allura was great this season!

Shiro: Shiro seemed like a mentor this whole time to me, which was really nice actually. He was the one that opened the Paladins minds into connecting with their Lions, that they can do anything, and he could PILOT ATLAS, he was such a strong captain, and Shiro has gone through so much? I’m actually pretty upset that Adam got killed off and Shiro only got 2 seconds to grieve, but they were at war and were under a clock, Shiro will have time to grieve on his own. He was the voice and he fought Sendak himself. Shiro is a true warrior, and I respect him a lot. 

Lance: Finally, my thoughts on Lance! First of all, I love Lance. Second of all, we have seen Lance bouncing around this season, by that I mean. We have seen times where he’s silly, times where he’s angry, and times where he’s sad and can’t pull up a front anymore. One thing I noticed is that Lance accepted Death like 3 times or more this whole season. And its honestly pretty sad. I will show images here

Lance reuniting was his family was really sweet, we can tell he has a soft spot for his nieces and nephews. And even though he is the youngest, he is still protective of Veronica, but Veronica is also protective of him. This is sibling love. I loved how Veronica joined the garrison and has become this big part in the war in battling to save Earth, and we got to see her battle along side with Lance. That moment when Lance was calling Red and Red wouldn’t come to him, broke my heart and I will show the image but Lance was ready to accept Death along side his sister, the first thing he did was make sure she was safe. We really have a look on his relationship with his family, but we couldn’t have very big moments since it was war time.

Veronica teasing Lance about Allura was sweet, but Lance’s reactions were pretty off. I saw somewhere on a post that Lance would actually talk about his feelings for Allura with a loved one if he was sure of it, but he didn’t seem so sure. In fact he was denying it. He’s not ready to be vulnerable. I think things are changing here.  (Plus Lance didn’t even flirt with Romelle lmao) + Lance protecting Pidge was so cute.

My Hopes: Honestly this is mainly Lance things but, we have gotten flash backs from everybody besides Lance. Pidge got flasbacks, Hunk got them this season, Keith got them this season along with Season 6, so did Shiro. And Lance, we never really have gotten much from him? Here is what I want to know.

-We know why every Paladin joined the Garrison besides Lance, so why did he join?

-We don’t know much about Lance’s past besides certain moments from the garrison or some memories with his family or movies.

-Now, I want a closure with Lance. I want Season 8 to be his arc. He needs it. We need him coming to terms with his emotions and how to solve them. I need these answers.

-I want to know about his sword

Klance: Alright here are my thoughts with Klance this season. We had pretty good interactions, not going to lie and I will post the images here and do a quick run down one by one!

Keith could of chosen anyone to lead but he chose Lance, and I’m pretty sure this isn’t just because he is the right hand of Voltron, he see’s potential in him and trusts him. And Lance is so worried when Keith leaves on his own??

2nd part

Seem familiar?

I am paralleling this because! Lance said something nice about Keith when he didn’t have enough energy to pull up a front. This moment between them mattered a lot to Keith, he even has those lines under his eyes to show a pained expression. Lance denied the bonding moment because he wasn’t emotionally ready to accept it. Keith was hurt by that. Now, Lance said something nice about Keith, acknowledged him and a moment. Keith then wasn’t emotionally ready and rubbed off the wrong way. Come on guys, you know they bicker, yes its gotten better but they also haven’t seen each other in a long time and they’re all stressed with war and under pressure, they don’t have BREAKS!

Also these moments

Honestly, I think Lance was letting out hurt feelings. He was hurt when Keith left, we know this, there was something missing with him ever since we left, I don’t need to pull up the screen shots for you guys to know that Lance was hurt when Keith left, he said he was going to miss him, and he had the best reaction when Keith came back too. BUT THERE WAS NO TIME FOR TALKING, THE UNIVERSE WAS AT STAKE PLEASE TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION!! 

Notice how Keith didn’t say anything back to Lance? He just accepted it and even flew off just BECAUSE LANCE TOLD HIM TO?!? Like guys c’mon lol.

Honestly this just reminded me of their friendship. So yeah!

Now, I’m not saying “ohh klance still has a chance” I honestly don’t know at this point. As far from my knowledge.

Allurance seems forced. I honestly think there might be a love triangle in Season 8 between Allura Keith and Lance. and this is why I think that.

LM said that Lance will be with someone from the beginning of the show with someone from the very first episode. Lots of Klance was hinted, but Allurance was also in the way. They said Lance’s end game would be a slow burn and Klance is a pretty slow burn... also Keith has all the qualities Lance wants. Lance can be vulnerable with Keith. As of now he can’t with Allura, he doubts his feelings around his friends and others. because he is afraid of not being taken seriously. I don’t think this is love. But we will see. I mean We just got to wait you know?

The thing is I also think Season 8 won’t have so much battles, it is 13 episodes, Sendak, Lotor, and Zarkon are dead. Earth is safe, Haggar is still out there but they can defend Earth now, yes the Altaen thing is still a mystery but I don’t think it would take so many episodes to defeat Haggar, it usually takes 2 episodes or 3 just to defeat a the enemy. Season 8 has a lot of potential to give us a lot of answers and closure we need.

We need Lance and Keith’s relationship to patch up, we need them to catch up, we need them to fucking fix this and TALK one on one, with no pressure and let things out. Lance was clearly affected, and I think Keith will realize this.

We need Lance talking to SOMEONE about all his insecurities, we need someone to take him seriously, and I think with his family with him, he will feel stronger. Maybe even Veronica will be the one that helps with this since she was such a big part of Season 7. 

I want to know why Shiro is Lance’s hero, I want to know his past, I want to know all of this.

I want to see Pidge apologize and tell Lance he is like a brother to her.

Hunk has already realized things have been off with Lance but he hasn’t had time to bring it up.

Allura can talk to Lance, I want a closure on Allurance as well, these feelings need to be spoken of.

And if Bi Lance arc is still a possibility, then that would be great.

As of now I hope Season 8 is just a closure season and gives us all the answers we want and see development, answers and closure. Season 7 was really rushed because they were at constant war, there was no breather ever, you guys have to understand that. Things have to be put aside sometimes when you have to fight. Just stop hating on the season so much like guys!

They said Voltron wasn’t a romance series, it was an action cartoon! 

We have GREAT characters!

Romance is just something to have fun with. Now I know you guys want LGBT rep and trust me, I want it too, I don’t like what they did to Adam, but lets wait, things happen for a reason, and we will probably get those answers before or after season 8. For the mean time, relax, let out your energy, and just lay the hype down more for the next season. I know we got kinda baited but we don’t have to get overly upset.

GUYS THIS SEASON HAD A GREAT PLOT AND THE BATTLES WERE AMAZING I WAS ON EDGE THE WHOLE TIME STOP HATING SM OVER SHIPS JUST CHILL FOR A SEC LOL 

I know this was long and I appreciate those who read it lol.

[welcometoyournewhell]

A request from @whatislife1babydonthurtme, done in this format because Tumblr is being beyond stupid.

“Galtean Klance AU  part 1! (this is a little long so I had to split it in two)     So I like the headcanon that Alteans aren't ticklish, it's just not a part of their species. They have different physical definitions of sensitivity.     So, an Alternate Universe where Lance is Altean and Keith is fully Galran, Lance isn't ticklish, but apparently the Galra are.    Lance finds out about this on accident. He has no idea what the hell is happening and experiments on his fluffy boyfriend.”

“Galtean Klance AU  part 2!     So Keith, having been an orphan and not being used to physical contact, is so confused like wtf is happening to his body? Why is he laughing?? But he also weirdly enjoys it because it feels nice and it fills his body with butterflies and giddiness.    And Lance is 200% serious like "why is this so funny to you? I don't get it." And Keith just laughs because he doesn't know the answer anyway.“

“Galtean Klance AU  (part 3?? I forgot a small detail ; v ;)    Afterwards, Keith tries to do it back on Lance, he pokes various spots on Lance's body but nothing happens and Keith is like  (O___o) ??????????????”

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A/N: Sorry about the delay, I honestly wasn’t liking how it was turning out. Also, Tumblr for some odd reason won’t allow copying and pasting without a lot of code when using the computer?? So to transfer the story from Google Docs took a bit of figuring out. I hope you enjoy!

__

It had been an arranged day like any other. The two princes had been engaged since childhood and had been growing up alongside each other to ensure a positive outcome.

As the wedding day came closer, Alfor demanded Keith spend the night at the castle. Adam was horrified and felt the fear of betrayal on it’s way. The Altean hybrid would be damned if his baby would be living with such a man.

Lance was fine, Coran was fine, Allura was fine, but Alfor? The man who played favorites among his children, the man who acted as if Lance was just property? Not a chance in hell.

As soon as word got out that Adam and Shiro, the young kings of a new Galran planet, had taken in a child…. the Altean king was at their doorstep with both children in arms in hopes of an alliance.

Allura was six, Lance was four, and Keith was five. The queen had been appalled. He was involved. But there was a problem. If Allura chose Lotor, she’s have to rule from Druel to carry old traditions, or disrespect her in-laws and stay on Altea, with out her husband.

If she chose Romelle, she’d stay and rule here. The was a problem that rested on Lance’s shoulders. If his sister left, he’d have to rule. His father would rather him leave the planet all together, but there were no more heirs.

But if Allura left, there would be war. The queen of the new Galran world wouldn’t let his baby be taken from him. Forced to marry young, forced to live somewhere else, not allowed to choose who he married?! The nerve!

But…. that was between the grown ups, and that was Allura’s stress. For now the seventeen-year-olds were having fun just spending time together. “Why do you tie your hair so tightly? Or is this Adam?” Lance was slowly massaging his boyfriend’s scalp after he undid the long braid.

Keith purred softly at the touch, blushing from the comment. “Adam was busy this morning and… it just didn’t feel like I did it right.” The younger prince giggled softly. “Maybe you should cut your hair?” He received a head turn, followed by a glare.

“I’m just saying, you kind of look like a chick!” The Galran prince sighed as he studied the wall before him again.“ All my people wear their hair like this.” He shivered as fingers brushed against the back of his neck. “Ture, but you have a doll face.” Unlike Shiro,

Keith didn’t have a tail. He couldn’t just playfully twack the other as his brother could. “Why is your bed so…. Squishy?” His best tactic was to change the subject. “Hm?” 

The Altean examined his own bed. He was a bit confused, it wasn’t his fiancée's first time in his chamber… or on the bed. “You’ve never said anything before. It’s the same mattress I’ve had for years.” Keith nodded slowly. “It’s just… really… squishy.”

He squeezed it in emphasis, it puffed out in his hands as if he were squeezing his own thigh… but looser. “Well yeah… is yours not?” He’d have to fix that if they moved to Keith’s room. Honestly… Lance wanted to leave. He’d miss his home, he’d miss Coran, but he could visit.

But… he cared not for his government, for his father. Coran was his father, that’s all Lance cared about. “No. It’s firm…. Not… pudding.” The younger prince rolled his eyes at the comment. 

They continued on in silence. As Lance finished, he draped the braid over the older’s shoulder before leaning forward and kissing the nape of his love’s neck. Keith jumped slightly before trying to look over at the other.

His fiancée refused to move as he boredly brushed his lips around the area. Purple eyes widened as nerves responded to the touch. Heat and laughter attempted to bubble to the surface before the male moved forward, covering his mouth. 

“L-Lance!” The younger pulled back, sitting up. “Dude, I was just messing with you.” He didn’t mean to offend his boyfriend. “I.. I know but. It tickled,” he huffed. It what? Pencil thin brows lowered. “It… what?” Did he hear him correctly? “Huh?” Keith sat back up, rubbing the back of his neck.

“What did you say? You know?” He moved back forward to do the motion again against the side of the other’s neck. “Ack! H-Hey,” the attacked squeaked. He pushed his fiancée back some as he leaned back. “That, what was that? You called it something earlier.” Huh? Oh. The Galran processed before rubbing the area and sitting up again.

“I tickled,” Keith repeated. The Altean tilted his head. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d hit a language barrier. “What’s tickled?” The older prince blushed a bit more. “Um… well… it’s.” He took a breath. They both knew Keith was terrible at explaining things. 

“Tickled is the past tense for something that tickles. Which is the feeling when someone runs their fingers or something over a sensitive, or ticklish body part? I don’t know. Curtis and Shiro said it was a nerve thing.”

Well… that didn’t help. He moved back against the large headboard before patting his lap. “Come, show me.” Sighing, Keith crawled over before awkwardly sitting by the other. “Um?” He wasn’t sure how to show Lance.

Should he… have Lance tickle him? Slowly, he took the other’s hand and placed it on his side. “I guess…. Just kind of move your hands? Like your fingers?” The other was a bit confused, but nodded. “Like… like this?” He just tapped them stiffly against the area. It wasn’t doing much.

“No… like… maybe a squeezing motion, it scratching… or wiggling?” Blue met purple at the last one. “Wiggling?” The fiancée nodded before putting his hand up. “Like this.” He demonstrated the motion. “Okay?” Lance shook his head a bit before trying it, and pulled back quickly at the response.

Keith squeaked before moving to the side. “What was that?!” His love had spazed out, an unholy noise escaped his lips! “It tickled,” Keith explained. “I’m really ticklish.” The Galran prince started giggling helplessly as both hands found his side.

The Altean was interested in this new discovery. He’d never seen anything like it. Apart from the snorts, wheezes, and unholy noises, the younger noted the action was making his love laugh.

“Sthahaop, L-Lhahance!” Fingers had decided to explore outwards. The soft tummy and back were under attack. Sure, the back earned a few giggles, but the tummy… The younger pulled back quickly to avoid the moving limbs, the scream escaping the other also scared him. 

“What was that?!” Keith was giggling softly, arms covering his tummy as he curled up. “It tickled,” came the same reply. “That’s one of my worst spots!” He was talking as if Lance knew this information, as if he was talking to Adam.

The hybrid would tickle the younger as punishment, bonding, comfort, etc. Just typical parental things. He wasn’t expecting for his arms to be pulled away, and be turned onto his back in a quick motion. “L-Lance!” His mind was stuck back with Adam. His family were the only ones who could tickle him. 

This was… a little odd? “I wanna do that again!” Child-like excitement filled the prince’s eyes. “What? Wait, no ,no, nahahao!” The Glaran’s head flew back as he squealed. His hands met the Altean’s as his energy weakened.

“Lahahance, stop it!” The other was amazed. He stopped quickly when the other cried out for air. “That’s really cool, and pretty cute. Who’d have thought a few touches were all that was needed to bring down the all-mighty, emo, edgey, Glaran prince?”

Keith huffed in annoyance before flipping the tables and pinning his boyfriend beneath him. “Really? Because in a minute I’m going to have you pleading for mercy!” Fingers dug into the prince’s sides, tummy, ribs, hell Keith even tried his fet. Nothing, not even a flinch. “What? How is it your… you of all people have to be ticklish!

“How is this possible?” The younger shrugged. “I’ve never seen that before honestly.” That’s when it hit Keith. During tickle fights between Shiro and Adam, Adam would always win. Shiro would mutter something about Alteans being immune to it. Though Adam was a hybrid, he could hardly feel the sensations. 

“Damn it,” he sighed. The Altean prince looked up rather confused. “What's your issue?” Keith sighed before poking the exposed tummy. “Alteans aren’t ticklish… I just remembered.” Lance frowned before smirking.

“Oh but… I think you make up for it nicely. Come here!” The remainder of the night was filled with giggles and squeals as the prince educated himself more on the subject of tickling. Let’s just say… they didn’t wake up until past noon.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Interesting flight

And here it is, the end of Klance AU Month. I actually did it, I did a story for every day, well except day 10 but I've done a whole series on YouTuber, I think I was allowed to skip an AU I knew I wasn't good at. A big thanks to @monthlyklance  for moding this event of sorts and being very nice as I sent them link after link of my fics because tumblr wouldn't show my stories in the tag search. Don't know if I'll do this again, maybe when I know time won't be taken up by classes. Wasn't my best fic I think but it's been a long day. Free Day (Single Parent AU)

“Are we going to see granny?” Sylvio asked, watching his uncle feed his little sister.

“Yeah, are you excited?” Lance asked, pulling the empty bottle away from Nadia’s mouth and then handing it to the young boy.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to spend my birthday with them. Uncle Lance?”

“Hmm, what’s wrong?”

“Can we go see mommy and papi?”

Lance’s smile faded a little. Sylvio’s parents, his own older brother and sister-in-law, died in a car crash. Lance had been babysitting his niece and nephew, being the only family member living in L.A like Marco, while everyone was in Florida. He’d just put the kids to sleep, wondering where his brother even was when he got a call. Everything had changed in that night. Being the only one of age that was in the area, Lance had gone from an uncle who was going to start working at the local kindergarten to being a stand in parent. It was hard, having to readjust, having to explain to his nephew that his parents weren’t coming back, to try and calm his niece who’d cry for her parents’ way of calming her. Sylvio had finally understood that his uncle was going to take care of him and his sister from then on, he seemed to grow up. He was only 4, Lance hated that he felt like he should be the one help take care of Nadia when all he should be concerned with was living as a 4 year old. Lance had sent the ashes of Marco and his wife Lisa to Florida to live with his parents after he’d find Sylvio staring at the urn for hours.

“Sure buddy. You need to tell them about all you’ve been up to.”

“We’re about to start boarding for Flight 239 from Los Angles to Florida. Please look at your ticket for your boarding group number. We’d like to invite our first class flyers and membership flyers to start boarding.”

“Grab our tickets buddy.” Lance instructed as he fitted Nadia into the front carrier, feeling her little breaths against his chest. “What number we got?”

“1!” Sylvio called, showing off the tickets to his uncle.

“That’s right. You hold on tight to that ok? I’ll hold our bag alright?”

“We now invite group 1 to board.”

“That’s us! Let’s go Uncle Lance.” Sylvio said, jumping from his seat and running to the line. Lance smiled apologetically to the people who’d been cut off by Sylvio. The flight attendants smiled down at Sylvio as they took the tickets and scanned them before pointing then in the right direction.

“Whoa, buddy, not so fast.” Lance said as Sylvio ran down the corridor to the plane.

“Hello little one.” The flight attendant at the entrance said, helping Sylvio onto the plane. “What’s your name?”

“Sylvio. That’s my sister Nadia and my Uncle Lance.”

“Is it your first time on a plane?”

“Yeah! I’m going to see my granny.”

“Oh, well when you go see her, you’ll have to show her this.” The flight attendant pulled out a pin of wings and attached it to Sylvio’s shirt.

“Uncle Lance, look!”

“Looking good buddy. Can you ask her where our seat is?”

“Oh, where are we sitting?” Sylvio asked, letting the flight attendant look at the ticket.

“You’re number 12 B which means you’re on the left. Do you know where your left hand is?”

“Yes!” he relied holding up his left hand.

“Let’s go buddy. Thank you.”

Using his left hand, Sylvio counted the chairs they passed slowly, Lance reminding him which numbers came next. They reached their seats and Lance had Sylvio climb into the seat by the window when he realised he had a problem. Nadia was still on his chest and he had to lift the carry on suitcase into the overhead bin. He could take her off and lay her down in the seats, but he could feel her start to squirm and he didn’t trust Sylvio to keep her still.

“Do you need help?” Lance looked to see the person standing behind him. he only had a backpack on, his sweatshirt drowning him.

“Um, if you could? I don’t want to risk hitting her.”

“Of course, back up a bit.” Like the suitcase weighed nothing, he picked it up and slid it into the overhead bin. Once it was set, he gestured for Lance to sit down. He waited for Lance the sit in his seat next to Sylvio before pulling his bag off and sitting next to him.

Their seat was the one right after the last first class seat so in no time, Sylvio climbed off his seat and sat on the floor. Lance didn’t say anything as it would still be some time until he had to sit his nephew down again and focused on making sure Nadia’s baby bag, that also held his laptop and tablet he’d given to Sylvio for the trip was under his seat. He didn’t want to have to shove it in the overhead bin. He saw that their aisle mate was the same, shoving his bookbag under his seat.

“Excuse me,” one of the flight attendants asked, “we have basinets if you want one for your daughter?”

“Niece and thank you.” Lance said, patting Nadia as she started to whine a little.

“You probably have time to feed her before we take off.” Their aisle mate said.

Lance looked over at him. he’d stripped his sweatshirt, not bothering to fix his shirt, which even its mess showed his fit figure. He also noticed how long his hair was. It was past his shoulders and looked really soft. He hoped Nadia didn’t spot it. Lisa had long hair so Nadia was used to long hair being near her when she was being held.

“She already ate. Thankfully she got hungry before we had to board.”

The guy looked down at Sylvio who was looking under the seats. “You having fun down there?”

“Uh huh!”

He let out a small laugh, smiling at Sylvio. Thank god, he seemed to like kids. “Cute kid.”

“It’s in his genes. We McClains are adorable.”

“I’m sure.”

Everyone was seated and Lance had coaxed Sylvio up to his seat for take-off. Their aisle mate offered him gum to help with the pressure build-up, letting Sylvio take an extra one. Nadia had dozed off and Lance hoped she’d stay like that for a while. Sylvio’s eyes were glued to the open window as the plane went down the runway and started to pick up speed.

“We’re going fast!”

“Keep chewing buddy, it’ll help your ears.” Lance said.

Soon the plane tipped up and they took off. Sylvio’s chewing slowed as he watched the world below the plane grow smaller. Lance glanced down as Nadia’s face scrunched up. He gently shushed her, hoping she stayed asleep. As they got higher though, she moved around more and woke up crying. Lance groaned in his head. Crying baby and they weren’t allowed to move around yet, just his luck.

Sylvio, thank god, turned away from the window and started asking his sister what was wrong. Usually it would calm her down slightly but Lance guessed the pressure was hurting her too much for her to pay attention to her brother.

“Is it the pressure bothering her?” His aisle mate asked.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine, really. I know people get annoyed by it but babies can’t really control these things.”

Lance was extremely grateful of the understanding man. Finally the seatbelt sign turned off and Lance blocked out what the head flight attendant was saying as he undid his seatbelt and was let out by the still slightly ruffled man. “Sylvio, stay here ok?”

“Ok.”

Lance tried to ignore the looks he got as Nadia continued to cry. He hadn’t gotten the chance to grab her pacifier though he doubted she’d keep it in her mouth. He gently shushed her, bouncing as he tried to calm her down. Thankfully her cries lessened but she still whined loudly.

“Shh, shh, you’re ok.” He whispered when he saw the same man coming towards him. he moved away from the bathroom thinking he was heading there.

“Your, um, nephew, asked me check on you?”

“Sylvio yeah. He knows he can’t do it himself. You don’t have to.”

“I don’t mind. What’s her name?”

“Nadia.”

“Nadia.” He called, standing next to Lance. “Nadia.”

Hearing a new voice, Nadia tired looking for it, her whining quieting some.

“Do you want to try holding her?”

“If it’s ok.”

“Sure. Help me?” he asked, pointing to the buckle on his back.

It was unclipped and Lance slipped the handles off, keeping Nadia close to him. he let the other man take her, easily taking her into his arms.

“You’re pretty good.”

“My brother has a kid, I volunteered at their day-care.”

Nadia’s whining stopped as she stared up at the new face. She blinked and reached out her hand.

“Wait, Nadia, no!” Lance said as she gripped his hair, holding it firm in her grip. Her gaze was completely fixed on the long black strands in her fist. “I am so sorry. She has a thing with hair, she doesn’t let – no don’t put it in your mouth! Oh god, Nadia.”

“It’s ok. I mean there are worse ways to spend a flight. I never did introduce myself, I’m Keith.” He said, his hand pulling Nadia’s fist away from her mouth.

“Lance, hi. Um, she’s not going to let go.”

“It’s ok, I don’t mind holding her. Besides, you still have your nephew to worry about.”

“Um, right. Thanks.” Lance pulled off the carrier entirely and lead them back to there seats where Sylvio stared at his sister in Keith’s arms.

“She liked his hair?”

“You know your sister. Do you want your tablet?”

“Yes please.”

“How old is he?” Keith asked letting Nadia stand on his lap so he wouldn’t risk her pulling out his hair.

“4.”

“He talks a lot for a 4 year old.”

“Another gene of McClains, we don’t have an off switch.” Lance said, opening the armrest to pull out the try for Sylvio, letting him navigate the tablet on his own. “So you volunteer at your um?”

“Nephew. I picked him up one day and was asked to stick around to help with something and the next thing I knew, I kept going back. I work in security so kids except my nephew I never thought were my forte. Turns out I’m not bad with them.”

“I can tell. I work at a kindergarten and I don’t think I’ve managed to calm a fussy kid down the quickly.”

“I guess you’d be good with kids. You got Sylvio very worried about you.”

Lance gained a pain smile on his face, “it for a different reason. Their parents died a while back. I went from babysitting uncle to new dad in a night.” Looking over at Sylvio who focused on the tablet. “Sylvio had to understand that so young. When I dropped him off to school on the first day back, he wouldn’t stop crying for hours and of course seeing her brother cry made Nadia sad.”

“That must have been a lot.”

Lance nodded. “It was. Parenting is terrifying enough. It’s hard but a smile from either of these two makes it feel worth it.”

“I know they must apr-Ow!” Keith was cut off when Nadia pulled on his hair.

“No Nadia.” Lance said, pulling her fist open, even though she whined. Keith sat her on his lap and gave her his hand to play with. “Again, really sorry.” He said, pushing Keith’s hair off his shoulders.

“Here’s that bassinet.” The flight attendant came and attached the carrier onto the wall in front of them, pressing down on it to make sure it was stable. “Let’s give your boyfriend’s lap a break.

“Oh, uh, he’s not my boyfriend.” Lance corrected, feeling his cheeks getting hot.

“What’s a boyfriend?” Sylvio asked, Lance frowning at him.

“Now you pull your attention from the tablet. Don’t worry about that silly.”

“Sorry, it’s just she seems so comfortable on his lap and he seemed so nice to you as you were boarding. My apologies. We’ll start the drink service soon.”

“Thank you.” Once the flight attendant left, Lance turned to Keith. “I honestly feel like all I’m doing is apologizing.”

Keith lifted Nadia off his lap and placed her in the basinet, watching her look around. “It’s ok. I can certainly say this is one of the most interesting flights I’ve been on.”

[musicanddancingthroughlife]

Take a Break -- Stuckony

Okay, this is my first non-Voltron fic, my first MCU fic, my first Stuckony fic.... Be nice, is what I’m saying lol. I’ve been playing with this idea in my head for weeks now, but never felt I could do the characters justice. Steve has a role, but I’m still not sure of how I want to write him, so I think I accidentally just wrote less of him for this story. Anyway, I’ve spent the last three or four week reading nothing but MCU fics, mainly IronWinter (is that their ship??? I honestly don’t know guys) or Stuckony, so I need to find some more Stony fics, if you guys have any recommendations haha. Anyway, hope I did okay, cause I enjoyed it. Hope you do, too :) Should be a Klance fic coming next week, because I got an idea for one halfway through this, cause my mind is stupid.

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              It took Tony a few minutes to register that Steve was down in his workshop. It took him even longer to hear him gently calling his name to get his attention. With that in mind, maybe Bucky did have the right idea. His tactics definitely got his attention a lot faster, that was for sure. While Steve wasted time trying to gently nudge him away from his projects, Bucky just growled and huffed at him, then scooped him up into his arms.

              “Wha—Buck! Put me down, damn it! I wasn’t finished working on that!”

              Bucky hummed, apparently thinking it over. “Nah, pretty sure I don’t care.”

              “But, Bucky…!”

              “No, Tony, you’ve been down here for days, do you realize that? You absolutely need food. I know you’ve been ignoring the meals Steve keeps trying to leave for you, and you and I both know that thirty minute naps on your old, ratty couch here isn’t going to save you, even if you’ve had 10 of them in the last 4 days.” Tony had in fact had 3 of those naps, but he wasn’t about to tell Bucky that. Instead, he attempted to barter with Steve.

              “Baby blues, wonderful, darling Steve, just give me another five hours? I know I can get this right if you give me just a little more time! I can’t leave Clint without his arrows, come on!”

              Steve grimaced at him. “No, Tones. I’m sure Clint has plenty of arrows without needing these ones, too. He can wait a day or two.”

              “Besides, we love you more than him anyway,” Bucky butted in, pausing to resituate Tony and to tighten his grip in order to better secure the squirming mess in his arms.

              Steve sighed, but didn’t argue, which just didn’t bode well for Tony at all. “But Bucky-bear, Bucky baby, I’m not tired! Let me down, damn it!” Tony tried pushing against Bucky’s chest, hoping to pry himself out, but in a blink, Steve was there, gathering his wrists into one hand, steadying his head against Bucky’s shoulder with the other, carefully looking him over. Tony shivered, mostly aroused by how easily the super soldiers were able to handle him, to put him wherever they wanted. His mind suddenly went muddled, hazy. But one thought rose to the surface, and that was how much he still trusted Bucky and Steve. They would never hurt him, he knew. But he wasn’t a baby that needed to be micromanaged!

              “You’re exhausted. C’mon, Buck, we’re getting him up to the bedroom.” Bucky jerked his head in agreement, as Steve squeezed Tony’s wrists in warning before releasing them and moving to lead the way to the elevator. Tony pouted, and even moved his hand up again to resume his struggling, but Steve’s casual “Tony.” combined with another growl from Bucky stopped him, resigned to sulk.

              In the elevator, Steve moved to stand next to Bucky, rubbing circles into Tony’s hairline and forehead, which felt incredible, but… Where had this headache come from? Suddenly, the lights were too bright, and Tony swallowed a whine as he clamped his eyes shut against them. Steve and Bucky both murmured soothingly at him, forcing his body to relax into Bucky’s hold.

              The next thing he knew, Tony was landing in their bed. The sheets felt cool on his skin, the pillows and dim lighting going a long way to cushion the pain throbbing through his skull. He didn’t realize just how sore and achey his muscles were feeling, until he felt his boyfriends stripping him carefully and laying him out, stretching each limb out for him, massaging those spots and joints they knew gave him the most trouble and pain so they didn’t hurt him in rebellion of the unfamiliar stretching, which was nice because he hadn’t realized his body was so tired. He felt as if he could barely move, and it wasn’t until he felt two very solid, very warm, entirely too-comfortable bodies sliding under the sheets on either side of him, that he realized what was going on. A weak shot of adrenaline went through him, and he sat upright in shock, ready to vault over Steve to make his escape back to the lab. Buck was too fast for him, though, and cool metal clamped on his arm, dragged him back down despite his resistance.

              “Guys, come on! I don’t need sleep! I just need to finish this one project, and then I’ll come back up to bed….” Steve twisted onto his side, gently tugged his fingers through Tony’s hair. Leaned down, his breath fanning out against Tony’s ear and hair. Quietly begged. “Tony. Baby. Please. Please get some sleep. It’s harder for us, if you’re not here. Please just. Just stay. Sleep. Rest. Stop hurting yourself.”

              At some point, Bucky had joined in on his pleas. “Doll, we want you here. With us. Safe. Sleep.” Tony found himself stunned by the heartfelt words, by the pain he could feel resonating throughout. The other two took advantage of that, moving his now-pliant limbs so he was lying comfortably. He dimly noticed that he had shuffled to lay on his side, facing Steve. Bucky had plastered himself to his back, spooning him tightly, gripping his waist with his metal arm, an unmovable hold successfully holding him captive in the bed. Steve had reached out and gripped his hands, squeezing each finger rhythmically, massaging his palms, tugging on the joints, encouraging the muscles there to warm and relax. Their legs tangled with Tony’s, holding him down, holding him between them, allowing him nothing but the chance to relax. Steve called for JARVIS to lock the doors, keep the lights low, and to warn the team that they weren’t to be disturbed for the unforeseeable future. At that, Tony attempted again to protest, but by this point, his exhaustion really had caught up to him. Steve still played with his hands, the motions small and soft. Bucky was tracing random designs on his back, on his sternum. There were fingers in his hair, he didn’t know how or whose, but they were warm and comforting. Fingers moved to massage his temples for him, further relieving his headache. He was warm and comfortable, weighed down and unable to do anything but rest.

              Still, he wouldn’t be Tony Stark if he didn’t at least try to kick up a fuss, so the last thing he did before allowing himself to be lulled to sleep was complain, “’M not… sleepy. ‘M’not.” Steve and Bucky’s quiet chuckles echoed in his dreams.

[echotovalley]

klance au month day 1: coffee shop It's like the first time when we open the door - before we got used to usual

Lance checked the schedule in the back to make sure he had the day right before glancing up at the security camera feed by the front door, mentally willing a human shape to fall in front of the sunlight beaming in through the glass doors.

“Isn’t the new guy supposed to be here?”

Without looking away from the computer screen as she opened the day and responded to corporate emails, Allura rolled her eyes. “I know you must have that schedule memorized by now, Lance, so I know you know his name is Keith. And he informed me yesterday he would be a few minutes late due to a prior responsibility.”

Lance snorted and leaned back in the rolly chair he sat in. “That sure is a fancy way to say he hit the snooze button because he just didn’t want to get up.”

This time, Allura clicked her tongue and turned a look on him. “More like, it’s none of your business and hey, don’t you have a café to open?”

He flopped back in the chair dramatically and placed his hand over his chest. “You wound me, princess.” Lance caught Allura’s knowing smile as she turned back to her computer and hummed in acknowledgment.

“But you got it.” He shot finger guns at her even though she wasn’t looking and propelled himself out of the chair to reach for one of the aprons hung up outside of the office in their back room. “So, I guess I’m training him?”

“Until Pidge gets here as a mid, then she will take over while you man the register.”

“Ah, you mean I don’t get to break in the new guy?”

Allura huffed and rubbed her fingers over her temples. “Please do not use that phrase. I don’t need the mental image and I don’t want him to think he’s going to be hazed. He’s Shiro’s younger brother and I hired him because I know my coffee shop wouldn’t chew him up and spit him out like the last one did. So please, Lance, please please please, do not run him off.”

Lance finished tying his apron and placed his hands on his hips. “Aw, you know I can’t say no to you when you call me Lonce.”

“Lance.”

“Going now!”

He dutifully did as he was told by the gracious and reigning queen of their café and started brewing the medium and dark roasts, double checked the dates on the bakery goods, and started in on making the fuck ton of frappe base they’re going to need to supply the college student masses on the temperature record-setting Spring day. If there was anything Lance had down pat as an employee it was unmatched focus and killer playlists he listened to while he got down to it.

Which was why it was the sound of Allura’s clipped tone over the intercom system and not the beating fists on the double doors that gave him the heads up the new kid was here and wanted to be let in.

So sue him.

By the time he got to doors, there was a catty scowl targeted in his direction. Lance flipped the lock on the door and opened it for the guy to duck in.

“Took you long enough.”

Lance scoffed as he flipped the lock and pulled on the door to make sure it was secure. “Good morning to you too, sunshine. Allura’s in the back.”

“I know.”

He glared at Keith’s retreating back. Apparently, the award-winning personality and smile was not a shared family trait between this guy and Shiro. Looking beyond the bad haircut - or lack thereof - and frown lines, he couldn’t pick up on any family resemblance between the two brothers.

Allegedly.

He turned up the volume on his phone and went back to scrubbing the dishes. Brother-In-Law apparent or not, Allura would nip his bad attitude in the bud before the doors opened for the day. So at least that would be a decent consolation prize for dealing with the grizzly bridge troll that was Keith’s morning manner.

New Guy came out a few minutes later with a name tag and in one of the pressed aprons with the coffee shop's name in looping letters across the breast as he worked to tie his hair back as he approached Lance. “Do guys have any specials today?”

Lance washed the stem to the steamer on the espresso machine and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, survive and no crying into the chai.”

“Oookay?”

“So what do you know?”

“Aboout?”

When silence met him Lance turned back to Keith and frowned. “About coffee? How to make drinks?”

“Oh, I think I got it. I worked at the cafe in Lowertown, can’t be that hard.”

“Didn’t you guys specialize in boba tea?”

“We also had coffee.” Keith crossed his arms and tapped his foot anxiously. “Did I do something to piss you off? Because you’re acting kind of...”

“Kind of what?”

“Short. If it’s about being late, look I’m sorry. It’s not gonna happen again. Not that it’s any of your business or you’re the boss or anything.”

“If you’re looking to improve your shitty first impression with the café lead, you’re not doing a great job, dude.”

“We don’t even know each other.”

Lance turned the music off on his phone and unmuted the cafe playlist on the small radio beneath the counter. He brushed past Keith and the swinging doors of the kitchen to open the front doors for the day as Ellie Goulding’s soft voice filled the quiet.

Maybe he was being a little unreasonable to the outside eye, but Lance considered himself a pretty good judge of character. And there was definitely something off about this Keith guy’s energy that didn’t vibe with him. Like he didn’t have to practically spit on Lance when he opened the door for him. Yeah, it’s frustrating to not have a coworker hear you knocking on the door for an extended period of time, but he could have just said hey and moved on.

“Took you long enough.”

Geez, he was probably one of those types that thought he had it all in spades because he was related to the boss.

Well, not on Lance McClain’s watch.

By the time Pidge came in, the café had seen a steady flow of its regulars and Lance did a fantastic job of introducing each one of them to the new kid without a slip of sarcasm or irritation - he would like to thank the academy.

He even went so far as to warn Keith about which ones could be overly chatty and unintentionally keep him tied up in conversation if he wasn’t careful and any particulars they had with their drinks. From that, he learned that Keith’s whole thing seemed positive or negative twists on dismissive. The positive would be a slight scrunch of his eyebrows, the negative would involve some level of scrunching up his nose and furrowing his eyebrows. Scrunching and furrowing were almost the same, it was the nose thing that set them apart.

Which, okay kind of endearing, but wholly a little annoying if Lance was being honest.

Would it kill the guy to speak?

And not just the single syllable cryptic song and dance routine that was borderline robotic.

What would it take to get a full sentence out of this guy?

Pidge slid into her spot in the kitchen and took over training, showing Keith where stuff was, the trick to get the freezer open, etc. and it was like a switch. Lance could hear clear up to the register Keith’s laughter and his voice dipping and raising and monotoning in complete sentences. So again -

What the fuck?

What had he done to get the cold shoulder?

If anyone should be serving ice, it was Lance. He was the one that caught Keith’s attitude for no good reason.

Whatever.

With any luck, he’d be there for a month before bailing and they could go back to the previous harmony they once enjoyed.

Shift no. 8 with Keith Kogane.

He rarely left the back if he didn’t need to clean a table or refill the condiment stations, so Lance’s focus immediately snapped from the cup in his hand - halfway through writing a customer’s name on the sleeve - when Keith swept through the swinging doors and made a beeline for the table an older woman sat flipping through a magazine. There was a bowl in his hands and Lance knew for a fact that the woman hadn’t ordered any food, he would know since he was the guy that rang in her order.

A throat cleared and Lance was yanked back to the customer still standing in front of him with their eyebrows raised in question.

“Sorry, spaced out there for a second.” He used his best script on the cup and asked if they wanted whip cream on it (free of charge since he was totally doing his best to bribe them with it).

Lance moved to the grinder and started cranking out the espresso beans to put into the machine while Keith was still talking with the one customer. Because of the grinder doing its thing and buzz from the cooler and music, he couldn’t hear their conversation. It was a lot of guessing on his end as the woman glanced up from her magazine as Keith asked her something, he could see the tips of Keith’s ears pink from where his hair was pulled back. Keith gestured to the mysterious bowl in his hands, to the woman, down to the service dog at her feet, topped off with the tensest shoulder shrug Lance had ever seen.

And that was saying something.

Keith was a pretty tense person as a default setting.

Lance transferred the scoop of espresso to the machine and placed the cup under it before punching the buttons and smoothly sliding to another end of the kitchen to get a better view of whatever Keith was doing.

The woman smiled and Lance watched as what had to be at least 20 years of tension leave Keith in a whoosh as his shoulders lifted and he smiled.

Honest to god smiled.

Like second grader on picture day and actually enjoying it for once kind of smile. Exactly the kind Lance was weak for.

He watched Keith set the bowl down in front of the dog and quietly excused himself before he left the table and came back around into the kitchen.

When he burst through the door his eyes met Lance’s and the tension was back. He scrunched his brows and looked off at a random corner of the ceiling, puffing a breath out to ruffle his bangs.

“It’s hot out today and I asked the owner if it was okay to give the dog some water. I want them to know I think they’re doing a good job.”

Lance felt his mouth work around forming words, but nothing was coming out. He blinked as he watched Keith take the cup of espresso out from the machine and pick up where Lance had left off.

Shift no. 34 with Keith Kogane.

“You know, if you’re going to offer to open, the least you could do is actually bother to do it right.” Lance agitatedly tied his apron behind his waist and grabbed a box of bar towels off a shelf.

“Wh- Do it right?! I did!”

“Hm, nope.”

“Are you kidding me? I did everything on the list!”

“Yeah, half-assed.”

Keith punched his numbers into the register and shoved through the kitchen doors onto the floor with enough force for one to bang against the wall. “Bullshit, Lance.”

Shift no. 14 with Keith Kogane.

“Here, try this.”

Keith glanced down at the steaming cup being pushed toward him across the counter. His eyes flitted back up to Lance’s before going back to the cup. “Why?”

“Allura lets me experiment with drinks and if it’s good, she’ll let me offer it as a weekend special - if we’re not too busy, it isn’t obscenely difficult to reproduce by any of the other workers, and we have enough ingredients for our menu items first.”

“I, uh-”

Lance scoffed and folded his arms. “Dude, it’s not poisoned, quit looking like it’s gonna burn a hole through the cup and counter like acid. Besides, if it’s bad, you get the first honor of telling me so.”

Keith reached for the drink, flashing one of the smirks Lance was still learning the ins and outs of. “Well, I do really enjoy telling you when you’re wrong.”

“Good to see I picked such a gracious first contestant. Oh wait!” Lance lunged forward and took the cup from Keith’s hands, inches from his mouth. He popped the lid off and grabbed for the shaker with cinnamon in it, topping it off with a few generous shakes before flourishing it back to Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth tipping up as he reached back for the cup and took a hesitantly small sip of it. Lance watched in anticipation as Keith considered it, deemed it safe for consumption, and took a bigger drink. Lance grinned as he watched Keith’s eyes get a little bit bigger. He lowered the cup and stared at it for a moment.

“Fuck, I really, really like telling you when you’re wrong, but this is actually really good.”

Lance laughed and bowed. “You’re welcome.”

Shift no. 20 with Keith Kogane.

“Here.”

Lance turned the tap water off and grabbed a bar towel to dry his hands before turning to Keith and taking the cup offered out in his hands.

Keith worried his bottom lip between his teeth as Lance popped the lid off of the cold cup and sniffed at the drink. “It’s not poisoned. It’s something I threw together a few years ago at the last cafe I worked at, my boss put it on the menu, but it’s cool if you don’t like it.”

Shift no. 9 with Keith Kogane.

If Lance had to make one more frappe he was going to throw up.

Every college-age group shuffling through the door was just another nail in his coffin. It was truly shaping up to be a shift from hell as he was taken off register and placed in the kitchen for Keith to put some miles in on it. They just seemed to keep getting busier - no one else was available to come in or come in earlier while Allura was on a conference call and Lance wanted to die.

If they could suddenly get people that just all so happened to want what they had already brewed or an Americano, that would be great.

Or if he could take a break and get a change of scenery with the register, that would be good too.

Because, to be honest, if he had to overhear Keith have one more social interaction that didn’t quite land, he was going to lose it. It shouldn’t be that hard. Razzle dazzle them with a smile, ask how they are, if they want any extras on their drink, insert any offhand small talk comment, crank the smile up a bit and assure them their order will be up in a moment and that’s it.

The indifferent cool guy routine wasn’t exactly the usual coffee shop demeanor around here. Maybe it worked for the campy, pretentious gig Keith had before but Allura tended to like a more mainstream brand of atmosphere - even if they were lying through their teeth. Lance was almost 100% positive that it took Keith more energy to do whatever the hell he was doing over the polite smile and scripted dialogue every service industry tended to regurgitate on its employees.

Not that Allura was one of those bosses and they were technically an independent coffee shop, but a lot of the base principles were the same.

A break in the line finally afforded Keith and Lance to get through the orders and catch their breath. Keith politely scooted the tip jar off of the counter to rifle through it, he plucked out someone’s straw wrapper and cursed them to step in gum in the parking lot before getting to a folded piece of paper tucked inside of a dollar bill.  Lance bit the inside of his cheek as Keith opened the paper, revealing a girl’s name and phone number.

Lance grabbed the paper, inspecting it. “Y’know, Allura doesn’t like it when we flirt with the customers.”

Keith snatched the paper back, crumpling it up and throwing it into the trash can. “Except I wasn’t and I’m gay.”

Shift no. 23 with Keith Kogane.

“It’s very easy to see that somehow you and Keith got off on the wrong foot.”

“That’s putting it lightly, ‘Llura.”

Allura sighed and turned in her office chair to face Lance fully. “I don’t know why or how you two found just the right buttons to push with each other in such a short amount of time, but something has to give.”

Lance spun in his chair and picked at a loose thread in his pants. “Did Keith tell you ‘bout this? Because the adult thing would have been to say something to my face.”

“Keith didn’t say anything, Lance. Anyone could smell the tension off of the two of you in the next county. Neither of you is the least bit subtle. You’re incredibly alike, I had hoped you two would have been good together between your combined work experience and personalities I’d expected to mesh better.” Allura tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and looked Lance over. “Obviously, you two enjoy defying the odds. Two seconds in the door and you were ready to butt heads.”

Lance’s chair came to an abrupt halt, the wheels screeched against the floor. “If you knew about that then he did say something.”

“No, Lance.” Allura gestured up to the computer monitor with the security camera feed. “I watched you let him in that morning. I’ve known both of you now for several years and am well familiar with your body language. I should have addressed this with you two sooner, but I had hoped you would fix it yourself.”

“So, are you gonna fire us?”

Allura clicked her tongue, swatting Lance’s knee playfully. “Of course not. Consider it a soft intervention before I become officially disappointed.”

“Uggh, okay. Okay, alright, geez. You know I hate that word. We’ll work on it.”

Allura laughed, turning her chair back to her computer and booting it up. “Then don’t make me use it.

Shift no. 89 with Keith Kogane.

It was rare that he closed and from what he knew from Keith’s availability, he didn’t close either. So, it was a bit of surprise when Keith came bustling into the back room for an apron right before shift switch. Lance did a double take between the schedule sheet and Keith, raising his eyebrows because right there it was the entire time. It would be him, Keith, and two other people for the rest of the night.

The shift went a lot better than he expected, Keith was a solidly adept closer - not always a common occurrence when someone usually works the day shift.

As Lance locked the doors behind them for the night, Keith waited for him before walking out into the parking lot. It took him a minute to compute the number of cars left in the parking lot with the number of people - the other two employees were getting into their cars and pulling off by the time he reached his own car and whirled around to catch sight of Keith walking down the sidewalk.

“What is he doing?” Lance scratched his head, before dropping his hand and lifting his face up to the sky. “Oh my god, he’s going to be murdered.”

He got in his car and quickly caught up to Keith, slowly driving his car beside the sidewalk. “Dude, what are you doing?”

Keith looked over his shoulder and Lance knew before he even opened his mouth how much sass was about to be thrown his way - could hear the tone clear as a bell in his head. “Going home.”

“Duh, but like - where’s your car?”

“In the shop. I’m headed for the bus stop and, not to be rude, but I gotta be quick if I’m going to make the stop in time.” Keith readjusted the bag on his back and faced forward again.

“No, c’mon. I’m not going to let you do that.”

“Hm, but you can’t actually stop me so...”

“Listen, I’m not about to let your dead body weigh on my conscious for the rest of my life. That causes stress and stress causes premature wrinkles and I’m too beautiful to wrinkle prematurely. Get in, I’ll give you a ride.”

He saw Keith mistep, his body freezing up before shuffling forward faster. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Do you want me to call Allura? Do you know who Allura lives with?”

At that, Keith squared his shoulders and turned back to glare at Lance. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would, actually. And I have Allura on speed dial so, you better be quick.”

“Why do you have Allura on speed dial?”

“Oh look at that, my call app is open, I’m pressing the number four, and-”

Keith swore and lunged for the passenger side door, flinging it open and plopping into the seat before closing the door. Lance’s grin was so wide it was actually starting to hurt a little after a long shift of it, but the sheer look of panic on Keith’s face was more than worth it.

“Cool. What’s your address?”

“I’m not giving you my address, you’re just going to drive me to the bus stop.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Nope, don’t think so.”

“Lance.”

“Keith.”

“Lance.”

“Look, I can go all night, dude. If you don’t tell me your address, I’m just gonna go to my place where we can have an impromptu sleepover and you can meet my roommate Hunk and my cat and we’ll watch Netflix and you’ll be a prisoner to our hospitality and an unmatched, whole-ass breakfast with your choice of pancakes or waffles.”

They came to stop at a red light, thirty feet from the bus stop when the locks clicked into place as Keith reached for the door.

“Gotta be quicker than that, Kogane.”

Keith flopped back in the seat and watched as they passed the bus stop. “Oh, do you normally kidnap people with false pretenses?”

Lance jerked in his seat, checking his rearview mirror as he switched lanes before glancing back to Keith. “Y’know I’m not gonna like murder you or anything, right? Like we had our false starts, but I don’t hate you or anything. I don’t even dislike you. I actually enjoy working with you. And if you don’t feel comfortable telling me your address, I can drop you off at Shiro and Allura’s. It’s just - the bus stops can get sketchy this time of night and I obviously don’t know where you live, so I don’t know what parts of town you’d be passing through and if I could have kept you from getting stabbed or murdered, then I want to.”

“You do realize I can take care of myself, right? I’m an adult. I’ve had to ride the bus before. And I work out with Shiro, so I can more than hold my own against anyone that comes along.”

He felt Keith’s eyes on him, the scrutiny a little more than unnerving because he did several stupid things in rapid succession: underestimated Keith, almost admitted more than he should, and locked Keith in his car and said he wouldn’t murder him even though that’s probably exactly what murderers say.

Keith sighed, Lance saw him shaking his head in his peripheral vision. “I live off Pine Street on Avondale. It’s the apartment complex at the end of the road.”

Lance nodded and switched lanes again to turn into a parking lot and go back in the right direction of Keith’s place.

“And Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t dislike you either.”

Lance woke up on Keith’s last day at the café feeling a goopy, bittersweet sap weighing heavy and thick on his chest because he was dramatic and after two years a little worried that their workplace is what held up their communication and connection.

He can’t be blamed for that, Keith’s forgetful as hell and Lance can come off strong. He’s nothing if not self-aware.

It was going to be super weird not having Keith there to sneak his way to Lance’s phone and switch the playlist for his own or not having the comforting scent of espresso and Keith’s shampoo buzzing in his head.

The latter thing was a little creepy, but he couldn’t help it.

He had tried.

Didn’t work.

And it had been two years, and Keith was quitting because he finally got a graphic design job that would put his degree to use. He’d be making a lot better money there than a minimum wage food industry gig, so Lance should be happy for him.

“I can hear you overthinking.”

Lance scrubbed a hand through his hair and scoffed. “Well, excuse me, your majesty. Forgive me for interrupting your beauty sleep, but it’s like the end of an era. This is where we find out whether we got along just because we had the same work environment and hung out as much as we did because we got scheduled together so often.”

Keith turned over, hooking his chin over Lance’s shoulder and turning his face in to brush his nose along Lance’s neck. “The café was the start, we’ve got everywhere else to go now.”

Lance groaned and turned over in bed, dragging Keith to him in an armful of blankets. He pressed his mouth to the hollow of Keith’s throat, trying valiantly to fight and hide a smile. “Don’t get romantic on me at 7 a.m., you know how I get.”

Keith smoothed his hand over the worn cotton of Lance’s t-shirt, ducking his face into Lance’s bedhead. “Is a new era okay?”

He pulled back and studied Keith, he brushed his long bangs away from his face. Lance kissed Keith then, a quick, innocent thing turned something longer and indulging as Keith moved for a better angle and Lance swiped his tongue over the seam of Keith’s lips. Hands wound tighter and legs tangled further, the soft whisper of sheets breaking the quiet of the morning as they shifted as close as they could be.

Anything together would be good.

a/n: I work in a place that has a café and I am ~~barely~~ café trained. I’m v good at making bean water and nothing else - well, except ice water. also I realize there might be conflicting thoughts on the service dog thing, but this was based on something that happened in the cafe where I work and is probably not considered the right etiquette. so disclaimer to always be respectful of animals on the job and be aware to what the owner needs and is comfortable with. klancetober didn’t go...great or anywhere for me after like prompt 3 or 4. but I’m nothing if not foolishly...yeah, that’s it. I’m a fool. a fool that refuses to learn a lesson so here’s klance au month that literally no one requested but my other stories going nowhere so here we are lol

[miss-rosie]

-The Klance Post-

-Disclaimer: this post is in no way intending to hate on any other ships, especially Allurance. It is simply me talking about my opinions on who will be the endgame couple. Everyone is free to ship whatever they want, I am not in any way saying that my ship is the only good one.-

So, this is it I guess. In a few hours, the final season of Voltron will drop and finally we will find out whether Klance will become canon or not. It’s been a crazy ride with this show, but honestly I couldn’t be more grateful. I have so many happy memories from this show and I’ve learned from and related so much to the characters, as well as met my best friend and so many wonderful people through the fandom. As you may know, Klance is kind of my life and I am very optimistic that they will become canon in the next few hours. However, even if they don’t, this ship has made me smile, and laugh, and cry, and I will never stop loving it regardless. 

I’ve been working on this post for almost 2 months now, and finally, a few hours before the last season drops, I’m finally posting it. This is basically just all the evidence I’ve compiled that makes me believe so strongly that Klance will be the canon endgame. I basically restored my own faith in Klance while writing this. So if you’re looking for some hope in these last moments, just keep reading... 

________________________________________________________________

Ok guys, to start off, I want to talk about this live stream done by Jeremy Shada. (the voice of Lance)

In the live stream, a fan asks Jeremy if he can elaborate on Lance’s endgame. Obviously, he can’t tell them the answer, or say too much at all, because that would spoil the ending of the show, but what he does say gives some solid evidence for why the endgame will be Klance. Allow me to break it down for you. 

The main thing I want to focus on is when he says that some people will think "oh this thing came out of nowhere!"

I think it's safe to say that most of the people who watch this show, but aren't really in the online fandom, would naturally assume that Allurance is the endgame. If you think about it, Lance has been flirting with Allura since the first episode, and they had that scene in season 7 where they blushed at each other which obviously would be seen as very romantically coded to anyone with eyes. Therefore, to most casual viewers, there wouldn’t really even be a question as to who the endgame couple will be, as Lance has only ever actually admitted out loud to liking Allura. So my point here is that Allurance isn’t really the a ship that would seem “out of nowhere” to most of the viewers. Even people who don’t ship Allurance, including myself, can see that so far the only explicitly proven romantic scenes have been with them. However, Jeremy clearly states that the romance endgame in the show will seem to come out of nowhere to some people. Well, of the only two endgames that seem to really be options at this point, Klance or Allurance, which one do you think would probably seem to come as a surprise to most casual viewers? The one where the boy has been pining after the girl since the first episode, and has spoken many times throughout the show about his crush on her. Or the rivals who couldn’t even speak to each other for the first season or two without getting into an argument? Yeah, that’s what I thought. 

I think we can all agree that most casual viewers would think Klance totally came out of nowhere, not Allurance. Since these people had never even considered the two of them could ever develop a strong loving relationship, they will likely have not realized that over the course of the show, Lance and Keith have in fact had the most developed relationship of all the characters. They go from rivals, to colleagues, to friends, to something so much more. They have gone through so much together and have grown and matured so much both individually, and in their relationship, that if those viewers had payed attention to the two of them and how the way they interact and view each other throughout the show continued to change and develop, they really wouldn’t be surprised at all to see them end up in a relationship. 

Another thing important thing Jeremy says in the live stream that is that "the creators put little things throughout the series in ways to kind of make it as a whole make sense.” 

By saying this, Jeremy continues to support the point I was making earlier, that if one were to simply pay attention to how the creators have developed Lance and Keith’s relationship in small ways from the very beginning, the endgame would easily make sense as a whole.  

There is so much foreshadowing, so many parallels, so many unnecessarily soft looks towards each other, to possibly ignore that Keith and Lance are written as a pair. Just as Hunk and Pidge are portrayed as the tech genius pals and Shiro and Allura as the strong selfless leaders, Lance and Keith are constantly portrayed as a set, although the exact definition of their relationship continues to change. If you were to watch the show over again and count every time Lance and Keith are standing right beside each other, that alone would be enough to prove that the two are clearly set up to have some sort of significant relationship, whatever that relationship may be. 

I could go on, but there just isn’t enough room in this post to have a picture of every time these two are together, and I think you get the point. 

Now enough about the livestream. There’s a lot more evidence still to get into. 

In a panel for the show, Josh Keaton (voice of Shiro) encouraged fans asking about the endgame relationship to be patient (true to character as always) as the endgame is set up as a slow-burn. 

Although Lance has flirted with Allura since episode one, Allurance is in no way a slow-burn relationship. A relationship requires effort from both sides. Their relationship has in no way developed at all until the end of season 6, when Allura finally begins to acknowledge Lance’s presence, although only viewing him as a friend, as she was in love with Lotor at the time. So, while Lance has been putting in the effort from the beginning, Allura has never once shown anything but annoyance or at best indifference towards his advances until after she is betrayed by Lotor in the second to last season. Then she suddenly develops a crush on him in the span of half a season. 

On the other hand, Klance is the perfect example of what a slow-burn relationship looks like. These two boys start out with a lot of tension, caused by Lance’s one-sided rivalry with Keith (one that he created out of jealousy that Keith was always “better than him” instead of actual hatred towards him). It takes them time, but slowly they begin to argue less and work together better as they spend more and more time together. After Shiro disappears and Keith is forced to take his place as the leader, Lance finally matures about their relationship and lets go of the “rivalry” he created with Keith as he steps up to become his right-hand man. It’s after the pressure to maintain this image of hating Keith is finally gone, and Lance allows himself to become openly friends with Keith, that the two quickly become very close. Lance becomes Keith’s support as he struggles to lead the team and deal with the loss of Shiro. Throughout the show, their relationship turns from barely-able-to-say-a-word-to-each-other-without-causing-an-argument to a solid relationship built off of mutual trust and genuine care for the other.

Of the two options, it is clear which one fits Josh’s description better. Klance is a slowburn, Allurance is not. Those are just the facts. 

Now I would like to get into more detail about some of the many parallels the creators put into the show that prove Klance will be the endgame couple. 

First off, there’s the scene where Krolia and Texas found the blue lion together which very similarly resembles the scene when Keith and Lance found her. 

Although the entire team was there when they found Blue, Keith and Lance are the only two that step up in front of her, just like Krolia and Texas did. (Yes, we are calling Keith’s dad Texas in this post, fight me)

There’s also the scene where Keith’s angry expression while Lance was injured perfectly mirrored Krolia’s when Texas was injured. 

In both cases, Keith and Krolia’s love interest was severely injured and they can do nothing but wait while they recover. They both stare to the side and brood with their arms crossed, as their way of dealing with the genuine concern they’re feeling.

^^

(he’s not wrong)

Then there’s the parallel where the creators lowkey made the scene when Texas meets Krolia almost identical to the scene where Keith meets Lance.

In both scenes, there is an explosion in which Krolia and Keith make their entrances, followed by their love interests Texas and Lance discovering them. 

Assuming that this parallel was not just some crazy accidental coincidence, what could possibly be the reason to mirror Lance and Keith’s meeting with Texas and Krolia’s if Lance and Keith were not eventually going to end up in a relationship just like the other couple? Solid math, I know. 

Then we have the parallel when Keith finds out that Krolia left earth so that he would be safe, just like Keith left the team so that Lance could keep his spot in the red lion. 

While Keith doesn’t explicitly say his reason for leaving the team, it’s clear that Lance questioning his place on the team is what made him decide to step aside. Both him and Krolia make a selfless decision to leave the one they love, in order to protect them. 

Then we have my personal favorite... this perfectly identical parallel between Keith/Lance and Allura/Lotor.

Both scenes start off with Lance and Allura having a special moment together, only to be interrupted by their respective love interests and then proceed to direct all their attention to that person. Allura’s face when Lotor calls her is exactly the same as Lance’s when Keith calls.  

Basically, throughout the show, there are many parallels comparing Lance and Keith to characters like Krolia/Texas and Allura/Lotor, both of whom are in (or previously were in) confirmed romantic relationships. 

In an interview, when asked about the significance of parallels in the show, (specifically the one where Texas/Krolia and Keith/Lance find the blue lion in similar ways) Jeremy Shada confirmed that those parallels are very much intentional. 

Here are some clips from his answer to the question. (The answer was very long so I only included the parts that have to do with the parallels and their importance. However none of these clips are taken out of context or edited to seem to mean different then the original answer. These are Jeremy’s exact words.) You can find the entire unedited answer here: 

“Anytime you can have parallels I think, as a viewer, um, there’s just that kind of… uh, unspoken kind of symbolism behind the scenes when it, when you know, there’s a parallel with an earlier scene too and it kind of has that emotional resonance and weight to it. ”

“And so I think those are always intentional. I don’t think, usually I don’t think those are coincidental because especially, if you’re writing something and you write it and you have seasons that are airing when they’re you know, farther through the show, um, you’re kind of going back and going, ‘oh yeah! we did that!’ ”

“And so I don’t think those are usually unintentional, I think those are usually pretty, um, pretty intentional when the team puts those in there.”

Basically, the creators continuously parallel Keith and Lance’s interactions with those of other couples, proving that in the future, the pair will likely become a couple too. 

Still not convinced? Don’t worry, I’m not nearly done yet.

In order to further continue, we first need to talk a little about Keith’s character arc. 

Each of the main character’s in Voltron have an individual arc. Keith’s is all about allowing himself to open up to people and get rid of his fear of loving people and being loved. 

Growing up, Keith was a kid who’s mom left him as a baby, and who’s dad died when he was fairly young. His tragic past had a serious effect on how he handles relationships when he’s older. Keith starts out in the beginning of the show as the “loner”. He is afraid of growing close to people and allowing them to see him vulnerable for fear that they’ll end up leaving, just like his mom did. So to avoid getting even more hurt, he keeps himself closed up, hidden behind so many walls, so that people won’t get close to him. He keeps his feelings locked inside instead of opening up and risking being rejected. 

Now, over the course of the show, Keith has grown and matured so much, and has really overcome this constant need to appear indifferent to people who care about him. An instrumental part of his arc is when he finally finds his mom, and spends those two years on the space whale with her. All that time, seeing each other’s memories, finally understanding why she left him, growing closer together, forming a bond. It’s in those two years that Keith finally realizes that it’s ok to let people love him and to love them back. 

Keith’s arc is about him finding 4 different kinds of love.

The first kind of love, is brotherly love. 

Shiro is the only person who Keith is visibly close to before going to space. He took Keith in when he was a just a problem child to everyone else, jumping from one foster home to the next, and never stopped encouraging him to make something of himself. Despite Shiro never once giving up on him his entire childhood, Keith still hesitates to express how much he cares about him because of his built in fear of rejection. 

In the episode in season 2, where Shiro and Keith meet with the Blade of Marmora for the first time, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him. Here, he already loves Shiro, but he’s hesitant to show too much of his emotions for fear that, even after everything Shiro has done to prove that he truly cares about Keith, he might still not feel the same way. 

Compare that scene, to the one where Keith finally says “I love you” for the first time. This is after he’s come to peace with his mom, and with himself, and learned how to let people into his life. The hesitation is gone. Shiro is no longer like a brother to him. He is his brother. 

In this scene we really see how much Keith has grown in the show, as he finally lets himself be vulnerable and say how he feels now that he’s dealt with the trauma caused by his mother leaving. 

Which brings us to the next kind of love Keith will find in the show, motherly love. 

After his entire life of questioning who his mother was and why she left him, Keith finally understands that she did it to protect him and can begin to heal from all the hurt it caused him. In their two years together in the quantum abyss, Keith develops a strong bond with his mom and comes out much more confident because he knows now that she loves him, and he’s finally allowing himself to love her back. 

The third kind of love Keith will find, is the love of a friend. 

Since the beginning of the show, Keith always closed himself off from the rest of the paladins. He would usually stand in the corner when they were having fun together and stay to himself. He never felt like he could fit in and he was always afraid of getting to close to them, again, because he had this huge fear of being rejected. In season 7, when the paladins are lost in space without their lions, they all start to talk very honestly about their feelings and can’t seem to hold back anything they’re thinking, even if it’s hurtful. (almost like they’re drunk, in a way) When Hunk tries to keep him from leaving, Keith snaps and once again falls back into his habit of distancing himself from the people who care about him. When he’s not in a right state of mind, Keith’s insecurity about whether or not the paladins are his friends comes out. 

However, later in the season, when Hunk is struggling with not knowing where his family is, Keith is the one to step up to comfort him, something he never would have had the confidence to do before, because he has learned that Hunk and the rest of the paladins really do care for him as their friend, not just their fellow soldier or leader. 

Finally, Keith realizes that it’s better to let people in, and he is finally able to be a real friend to Hunk and experience the love of friendship. 

Now the final kind of love Keith will experience is the only one that hasn’t had it’s conclusion yet. That is romantic love. Obviously, the only person this could happen with is Lance as Keith has never shown any interest in anyone else. Everything that’s happened to Keith up until this point in his personal journey has been building up to this. Finally allowing himself to be in love with Lance will be the final piece of Keith’s character arc. 

The creators have confirmed that when the same facial expression is used more than once for a certain character, it's because they were intentionally making a connection between the scenes and the emotions that character is feeling. When Keith is talking to someone he deeply cares about, he makes a certain face. He makes it with each of the three people I talked about in regard to his character arc, and also one other time. That time is when he is talking to Lance.

Keith’s talking to Shiro (his brother): 

Keith talking to Krolia (his mother):

Keith talking to Hunk (his friend):

Then there’s Keith talking to Lance (his love interest): 

Still need more proof? Say no more, I got you. 

There is one episode in season 7 that is just packed full of Klance content: The Feud. This also so happens to be an episode which the creators say has a ton of foreshadowing. Everything in this episode just screams KICK. 

Seriously, we can’t even get past the title of the game show without some serious evidence. 

Let’s take a look at the logo for Garfle Warfle Snick. 

Obviously, it’s not written in English, but that is the least important detail. What is worthy of noting is that this logo is an exact copy of the logo for the 1970′s show, The Dating Game, a game show in which couples had to choose their date based off questions they were asked. Take a look. 

Identical right? Although the letters for Garfle Warfle Snick are not written in Engish, the symbols appear to be written in the same font. Then, we also have the way the words fit together, which is perfectly identical. Not to mention, the little flower shapes which were basically copy/pasted from The Dating Game’s logo. 

Now it is important to realize that in animation, every detail is intentional, as it has to be drawn into the scene by the animators. These two logos are so similar, that there is no possible way the creators didn’t purposely make the logo for Garfle Warfle Snick so similar to the logo of The Dating Game. Therefore, there must have been a deliberate reason for the similarity. 

So, remember how I said in The Dating Game couples would have to choose someone to be their date? Yeah, well if we look back to The Feud, who were the only two of the paladins to choose each other to get to leave Garfle Warfle Snick? That’s right. Keith and Lance. 

Now it honestly was a bit of a surprise when Lance chose Keith to leave out of all the paladins. Given his past with making advances towards Allura in order to gain her affection, this would have been the perfect opportunity for Lance to prove to just how serious he was about liking her by giving her his vote. But he didn’t choose Allura. He chose Keith. What does that tell you about how important Keith is to Lance?

Really though, there’s honestly no need to even speculate about Lance’s intentions when he made his choice. His soft, love-sick, face says it all. 

That fucking eyebrow crinkle. That is the face of a man in love. 

Also.. Lance calls Keith “the future”. Despite being just downright romantic as fuck, this is also a nod to this scene from way back in season 2. 

Look at that. Lance started out the show looking for his future Mrs. Blue Lion in any single cute girl he could find in space. Now, 5 seasons later, he finally realizes that Keith has been his future the entire time. 

It’s called, character development. 

And this is not even the first time we’ve seen Lance with that same exact love-sick look while talking about Keith. He makes the same face when gushing about how cool Keith is to Laika.  

Now, while Lance’s reason for choosing Keith has us all in our feels, Keith’s response when he was asked by Bob why he chose Lance was not so romantic, and has a lot of people upset, calling Keith an asshole for being so rude to Lance.

Ok, so I know Keith’s response sounded very rude, but if you think about it for a second, his logic really doesn’t make any sense. Keith knows how important team Voltron is to the universe. If only one of them can get out to continue the mission, Keith knows the weight that decision holds. I find it hard to believe that he would really waste his vote for the sole purpose of getting rid of someone annoying so he could spend the rest of eternity in peace.

Keith spent two years on the space whale in the Quantum Abyss seeing probably hundreds of visions of the past and future. It’s possible that in one of those visions Keith saw Allura and Lance during one of their bonding moments and assumed that she finally started to reciprocate his feelings and that they were together. Seeing Lance choose someone else probably hurt him a lot and because Keith’s instinct when he’s hurt by someone is to retract into himself instead of talking to them about it to keep himself from being hurt anymore, he pushes Lance away. This would explain why, after all the time that Keith had been gone from the team, despite him and Lance having become friends before he left, he totally blew Lance off when he got back. He’s doing what he’s always done. He’s “pushing people away before they reject him”. Instead of allowing himself to keep having the feelings he has for Lance, he completely closes himself up to try and keep his heart from getting broken. He tries to push Lance away and act like he doesn’t care.

What he says about not wanting to spend an eternity with Lance is completely fake. Keith is just pretending he doesn’t have feelings for him because that would leave him vulnerable to be rejected.

Remember, Keith doesn’t get emotional when he’s hurting, his first instinct is to get angry and immediately put up all his walls. Take a look at his body language. He has his arms tightly crossed and he looks very angry. It reminds me a lot of when he went to talk to Hunk.

He’s trying to help Hunk but he’s afraid of opening up too much and possibly getting rejected.  

Keith uses this body language when he is holding himself back from showing his emotions. He doesn’t actually hate Lance, he’s just trying to act like he doesn’t care as much as he does.

He can’t even bring himself to make eye contact with Lance, probably because he knows his facade would crumble the second he did. His anger is directed more towards Bob for putting him in this situation in the first place.

In the end, we can’t take what Keith said to mean that he doesn’t love Lance anymore. He’s just trying to cope with the fact that Lance and Allura are supposedly together in the only way he knows how.

*Also side note, can we all take a moment to appreciate Pidge’s face when this is all going down. Poor thing is so goddamn confused.

Has nothing to do with Klance, but I just love this precious child so much...

Anyway, back to the point... Amazingly, there is still more Klance evidence The Feud has to offer.

When Bob tells Lance that his team is starting to lose faith in him, his excuse for why he is failing at the game is that he’s “just not real good with names”.

While that is an understandable excuse, it brings up a question from way back in season 1. Lets go back to the scene where Keith breaks in to save Shiro in the first episode. Remember how Lance was the first one to immediately recognize Keith, without even being able to see his face?

He instantly knows who he is just by looking at his hair. For someone who’s “not good with names”, that’s pretty unusual I would say. As we know that Lance is not the type to remember the names of people who do not hold some sort of significance to him, Keith must have been pretty important to Lance, seeing as he was able to identify Keith from only his mullet, at such a distance.

(Not saying that young garrison Lance would spend entire classes staring at Keith’s hair from behind, attempting to convince himself that his gay crush was in fact just very intense feelings of hate, but that’s exactly what I’m saying.)

Also, notice how Pidge seems to have no idea who Keith is.

However, as soon as Lance says the name, Hunk immediately reacts, probably because in his time at the Garrison, he’s been on the receiving end of many angry rants about the guy’s “stupid mullet” from a very jealous and flustered Lance.

With this information, I think it’s reasonable to to believe that Lance’s obsession with Keith (whether or not he understood his feelings at the time) began way back before the show even started when the two were still at the garrison together.

Now... another thing I want to mention is the famous “You are deserving of respect” picture drawn by producer, Lauren Montgomery. 

Now yes, this poster could really not mean anything and could have just been a sweet message where the paladins were chosen at random to hold up their signs. However, notice how both Hunk and Keith, and Pidge and Allura have had small arcs dedicated to the topic of the signs they are holding. 

In season 1, Allura talks to Pidge about her gender, and how she was pretending to be a boy. 

In season 2, Hunk talks to Keith about him being galra. 

Both those two pairs had the words on their signs translate into real plots in the show. 

Seeing that signs for "gender" and "race" turned out to have a direct connection to the canon storyline, with the people holding them, it's only logical that Shiro and Lance will have their own miniature arc based of the "lgbt" sign. We already know that Shiro is gay, as well as being Lance’s “hero. Therefore, it's very possible that lance will go to him for advice on his feelings for Keith, and Shiro will help him as he has experienced the same thing. 

Another thing I want to touch on is the “relationship” between Keith and Acxa. For those who are concerned about Acxa becoming a romantic interest for Keith, allow me to ease your mind. 

While it is white possible that the reason Zethrid and Ezor continuously tease Acxa about liking Keith is that Acxa may actually have feelings for Keith, is is also very likely that Zethrid and Ezor were simply messing with her to throw her off and distract her from the battle. However, regardless of Acxa’s feelings for Keith, I can assure you, Keith does not have feelings for her. 

Keith is very gay. This boy has never shown any romantic interest in any women in the entire show. 

Just look at his reaction to just the idea of being in a relationship with a woman. 

The poor guy just wants to fight like normal people without having to be shipped with the girl he’s trying to save out of common decency. 

Then there’s the scene where Keith catches Allura sneaking into the pod, and she falls into his arms. Allura immediately gets flustered and blushes uncomfortably. However, Keith doesn’t even flinch and seems totally indifferent to the fact that he’s carrying the princess in his arms. 

*Quick reminder that the last time he carried someone in his arms (Lance) he made it a very big deal. 

But to the point, Keith’s reaction to catching the princess in his arms is not the reaction a guy who likes girls would have. 

Not to mention the time he low-key checked out the hot alien dude who’s crashed ship they were fixing. 

Have I made my point? This boy is not straight. 

If that’s not enough evidence, Bex Taylor-Claus (voice of Pidge) themself confirmed in a livestream that Keith and Acxa are not going to be a couple, refering to them as “kindred spirits”. 

So fear not, Keith is still very gay and is most certainly not in love with Acxa. 

This scene is most likely just Acxa either wanting to thank Keith for saving her life (like a decent person, or alien I guess) or possibly she is related to him or Krolia in some way, and that will be touched on in season 8. Either way it has been confirmed that Kacxa will not be a thing, so there’s no need to stress about it.

Now, there’s one more thing I want to talk about before wrapping this up, and that is the infamous “stay safe out there” scene that basically confirmed Allurance...right?

Lmao you really underestimated me if you thought I wouldn’t find a way to bring Klance into the most Allurance themed scene in the entire show. 

Notice Lance's reaction when Veronica mentions the princess liking him. He doesn't get excited or cocky about it like he normally would have at hearing that kind of news. In fact, he actually denies that Allura even has feelings for him, saying that she just cares about everyone. That really doesn't seem like the reaction Lance would have to finding out Allura likes him earlier in the show. Last time someone told lance Allura liked him back, he had a very different reaction.

If we already know that Lance is never shy when it comes to the princess, why is his reaction to different in season 7? He constantly acted like the princess liked him even when she clearly didn't. Why would he act like she doesn’t when she clearly does if there wasn't something inside him that changed? Maybe he's not so certain about his feelings for Allura anymore huh? 

This is just reminding you not to lose hope just because of this one scene. One scene against an entire show of built up evidence, is not the end of the world, or in this case, the end of Klance.

My prediction is that in season 8, Allura will be very open about liking Lance, and he will try to go with it at first, but as we started to see in that scene, there will be something off for him and he will realize that he has moved on and loves Keith.

Now, it’s about 3 hours until the final season drops, and I have to post this now or never. Just remember, Klance has a serious chance guys, but even if it doesn’t become canon, everyone be kind and remember that it’s ok to not have everything go just how we wanted it to go. There’s no need to hate on Allurance if it becomes canon. Klance will always live on in our art, our writing, the friendships we’ve made because of them, and in our hearts. (I know, cheesy as fuck, but Voltron is almost over and I’m emotional) 

It’s been an honor flying with you all. And one last time...

KICK 

[spicyredpaladin]

“Meet Me At The Cove” - A Fic For The Shklance Summer Exchage

Hello lovelies! For the Shklance Summer Exchange, partially hosted by the @shancesupportsquad, I was given the lovely @lover-fangirl-writer as my giftee! I actually combined a few of your requests, so, for your viewing pleasure, we have Klance with a mix of ABO, merpeople, and fluffy kisses~!

Title: Meet Me At The Cove Pairing: Klance Relevant Tags: Merpeople, ABO Dynamics, Kissing, Beach, Ocean, Transformations, Fluffy ‘Dates’ Word Count: 2207 AO3 Link

Excerpt:   Keith watched the waves lap at the shore of the little beach he'd found, well secluded from the main beach and all the loud alphas and giggling omegas. He didn’t want to be a part of all that stupid, banal bullcrap. Being an omega, he found it insanely ridiculous that he was expected to pick someone to be shackled to for the rest of his life. He’d much rather be his own person, free from the constraints of his secondary endotype. Keith shifted his position, grumbling about the sand that had gotten into his shorts even though he was sitting on a rock.

Keith watched the waves lap at the shore of the little beach he'd found, well secluded from the main beach and all the loud alphas and giggling omegas. He didn’t want to be a part of all that stupid, banal bullcrap. Being an omega, he found it insanely ridiculous that he was expected to pick someone to be shackled to for the rest of his life. He’d much rather be his own person, free from the constraints of his secondary endotype. Keith shifted his position, grumbling about the sand that had gotten into his shorts even though he was sitting on a rock.

A giggle and the scent of salt mixed with lime broke him from his thoughts. He looked around, worried someone had discovered his hiding place. He heard another giggle. This time he could tell it was coming from the water at the base of his rocky perch. Keith gulped and crawled over to the edge. Had someone been here this whole time?

Beneath the rock sat something Keith never thought he would see. A teen about his age, male, pretty caramel skin and wet chocolate curls. And an iridescent, blue tail longer than Keith’s whole body. He stared quietly, mouth hanging open. This was a mermaid. A merman? Did this fish person even have a gender?

The merman chirped a bit, reaching up with one webbed hand. He grinned playfully and chirped again. Keith finally got the hint, reaching down to take the new arrival’s hand. He cried out as he was suddenly yanked down, landing on the merman’s lap and coughing as the wind was knocked out of him. Keith glared up at his assailant, blushing when he realized how startlingly blue his eyes were. He quickly scrambled up, shaking the thought from his mind.

“What the hell, dude? You can’t just yank people around!”

A confused chirp left the merman’s lips, his head tilting a bit to the left. Keith groaned. So this random merman couldn’t understand him. And he couldn’t understand it. Suddenly, the fish hopped a bit, seeming to have remembered something. He tapped his lips with a slender finger and set his hands over his ears before fanning them open with a grin. Keith gave him a confused look and the merman thought for a moment before nodding a bit. He touched his own lips again and then touched Keith’s.

The human understood now.

Keith glared a bit before sighing and nodding. The merman chirped excitedly, leaning forward with a smile. Keith gulped and did the same, closing his eyes as their lips met. He was surprised at how soft the merman’s lips were, quickly relaxing to the tangy scent of lime he gave off. The moment they pulled away, Keith regretted everything.

“You’re an omega human that’s so amazing! I didn’t know humans could be alphas and omegas and betas like Merlaes but that’s so amazing! I’m an omega, too~! My name is Ralanceli, but everyone calls me ‘Lance’ cause Ralanceli is our prince’s name, too. What’s your name? Do you have an alpha? Are you all alone?”

Keith stared in horror as Lance rambled. When the merman finally stopped talking, Keith was still staring. Lance waited patiently for any of his questions to be answered. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth again. Keith slapped his hand over Lance’s mouth.

“No more. Stop talking.”

Lance’s eyes widened and he grinned brightly. Keith looked away, embarrassed by how much his new companion was talking. Should he answer any of the questions? His parents would say no, but, honestly Keith didn’t give a crap about what his parents wanted. Plus, he was a rebellious youth. It would be unheard of if he did what his parents would want.

“I’m Keith. Yeah, I’m omega. And I don’t need an alpha. I’m perfectly happy by myself.”

Lance’s brows furrowed. The thought of not needing an alpha seemed to confuse him.

“But… How can you spawn more of your kind without an alpha?”

“I don’t want kids. I don’t need them. I don’t need anyone.”

Lance nodded a bit, thinking.

“Well, I mean… don’t you get lonely…?”

Keith thought about that for a moment, looking up at the blue summer sky. He sighed. Was he lonely?

“Yeah… I do. My parents have each other, and everyone is looking at each other. But none of them look at me, and none of them want to smell me… So yeah, I’m lonely. But I don’t want any of the alpha brutes that are available.”

Lance listened quietly, nodding as though he knew how Keith felt.

“Have you thought about courting another omega?”

Keith looked at him, surprised. He’d heard of it, but that would be insane.

“But all the other omegas want the jackwagon alphas with strong scents. My scent isn’t strong enough to attract another omega.”

Lance leaned forward, making Keith blush as the merman look a deep whiff.

“Hm~ You smell spicy. I like your scent a lot.”

Keith didn’t know what to do. No one had ever said that to him. It was so far out of the realm of what he believed possible. So Keith did something else that was different.

He leaned in and kissed Lance again. Their lips slid together playfully, and the end of Lance’s tail splashed in the water with joy. The two scooted closer, lips coming apart and together in soft, playful little dances. Both were grinning by the time they actually pulled away, blue eyes meeting purple ones. Lance leaned in again, but Keith dodged, laughing a bit.

“So… I’m gonna be spending the whole summer here. And I don’t know if you have any migration patterns or anything, but… Can I court you?”

Lance nodded, wrapping his arms around Keith happily.

“Yeah! Yeah, you can~! We don’t migrate cause it’s nice here year round, so I’ll definitely be around!”

Keith nodded, hugging back.

“Then I’ll court you through the summer. And every summer that I come back.”

Lance kissed his cheek, snuggling him happily. The two sat together until the sun started to set. Keith cursed under his breath when he noticed the sun going down.

“My parents are gonna throw a fit if I don’t get back to the condo…”

Lance nodded, looking sad.

“Okay… Will you come back in the morning, Keith?”

Keith kneeled down and kissed his merman omega with a soft smile, staying close so he could breathe in their mixed scents.

“Of course. I’ll come back here every free moment I have.”

Lance grinned and nodded, leaning forward for one last kiss before Keith had to go.

The next morning, Keith had a bag of snacks, some water bottles, his sunscreen, and his phone. He sat the bag on the big rock and looked out to the ocean, crossing his arms. Lance must be running a little late. Soon, he felt a smile come to his face as he noticed a long, shimmering shape beneath the water.

Lance popped up, dragging himself a bit so he could sit in the same spot against the rock as yesterday. He motioned for Keith to come over and touched his lips, chirping cutely. Keith shook his head a bit and smiled, plopping down with his legs across Lance’s tail before kissing him.

The two spent their day wrapped around each other, talking about the differences between life on land versus life in the sea. Keith fed Lance nuts and fruits and bits of chocolate from his bags of trail mix, and Lance quickly learned how to catch them with his mouth if Keith happened to toss one.

The two continued to meet, Keith bringing snacks and Lance bringing presents in the form of shells and sand dollars. Soon, Keith’s pale skin was just as dark as Lance’s from how long he sat in the sun with his Merlae mate.

Keith stared at his calendar anxiously. It was the twenty-eighth of July. Tomorrow, he and his parents would leave Angel’s Cove and he would have to go back into society and find an actual mate. But how could he leave when he knew his mate was here, swimming in the waters of the vast, blue ocean? How could he leave the first person he'd ever wanted to open up to?

The omega shook his head defiantly, packing his bag for the day and running from the condo before his parents could catch him. Maybe if he hid somewhere, he could stay. Could stay with his blue, fishy boyfriend and let the the sun char his skin and never have to worry about finding a brute alpha or becoming a baby-making trophy.

Lance was waiting at the little inlet when Keith arrived, playing with little fish and laughing happily with the gulls. The human watched with a smile, scenting the lime in the air. He hurried over, swinging his bag onto the large rock so it wouldn't get wet before running into the water to see Lance.

The two played and frollicked until the sun was high over their heads, at which point Keith dragged himself out to lay in the sand. Lance followed, trilling happily. Keith leaned over, pressing his lips to Lance’s. The Merlae returned it, making a sound of content before flopping down.

“That was so fun~! After you do your eating and rest, we can play again?”

“Yeah. But Lance, I gotta talk to you about something really important.”

“Speak, mate! I will always listen to your words!”

Keith smiled and reached across the small space between them, taking Lance’s webbed hand.

“Tomorrow my parents and I have to go back to the city. But I don't want to leave you...:”

Lance shimmied closer, pressing their foreheads together.

“My Keith… I know a way you can join me, if you want to… but you can’t go back once it's done.”

The young man grew silent, thinking about this offer. Did he have anything here to look forward to? Anything to brighten the existence of an omega? No. There was nothing left on land for him. Lance was his light.

“I don't want to go back, Lance. I want to be with you. No matter what the cost is.”

The Merlae trilled happily, pushing himself up onto his arms.

“Then I have to go get something for you. I don't know how long it will take, but I will try so hard to be back in time.”

Keith nodded, sitting up and hurrying to his bag.

“Before you go, I wanna take a picture. Just in case.”

Lance tilted his head, but trilled an affirmative, snuggling up to Keith and looking up at the little box he brought over. The screen flashed for a moment before his human lover showed him the screen. There they were, Lance and Keith pressed together and covered in sand. Lance touched the picture with a finger, smiling. Of all the pictures Keith had taken of them, this was both of their favorites.

The two broke apart reluctantly, Lance slipping into the sea and Keith perching himself on his rocky throne to wait. He ignored his phone when it rang, finally putting it on airplane mode after a good 27 missed calls and roughly 84 texts. He couldn't back out now, after all.

The sun slowly fell, eventually casting Keith in shadow. The sun continued its decline, and the moon rose high, bringing in the tide. Keith was safe where he sat, but he couldn't leave without landing in fifteen or so feet of cold water.

Finally, he saw a soft blue glow in the water. He came up to the very edge of the rock before Lance popped his head out. He lifted his hands to Keith, who reached out to accept the small pearl his love had brought him. It was a vibrant red, definitely unnatural, but so very beautiful. Lance opened his mouth and pointed inside and then at the pearl.

A deep breath steadied Keith for what he was about to do. He quickly turned his phone data back on, sending the last picture he’d taken to his parents before swallowing the pearl. It was heavy going down, like a pill that had twisted the wrong direction. Lance ushered him into the water, helping Keith out of his clothes in anticipation of what was beginning to happen.

Ripples of fire danced across Keith's skin, leaving behind beautiful red markings that shimmered in the moonlight. His bottom half began to burn as his legs were drawn together and fused, anatomy shifting to allow for the change. Delicate, flowing fins extended from the taper his feet had become, and blazing, red scales slowly grew over his new tail. Lance pulled Keith beneath the waves, their bodies glowing red and blue as gills sprung open along Keith's ribs and throat. He took a deep breath of water, eyes widening. Lance trilled and the former human could actually hear his words.

“You are like me, now! We can be together until we become the foam that lines the shores, and I will love you the whole time.”

Keith grinned and pressed their foreheads together, trilling back.

“And I'll love you even longer, Lance.”

[splinteredworld]

3+1 Equals a Family: Klance Family One Shot #1

Keith gripped the handle of Blue’s harness as he and Pike rushed into the cool daycare center, content to have some relief from the hot, summer sun. Taking off Blue’s harness, he hung it up in the office. Glancing around, Keith smiled as he directed Pike to the main area. Keith loved his job. He felt as if he had a purpose in life knowing that he was helping not only the parents, but also a group of very special children who sometimes just needed to know that they were loved.  He wouldn’t give it up for the world, but there were also times where he hated it, times where he went home more exhausted than ever, times where Lance had to talk him out of quiting. This was one of those moments.

  Children ran around the toy crowded room, weaving in and out of the herd of hurrying adults. As parents began to drop off the kids for Keith’s disabled class, Keith directed Pike to take Blue back to the separate classroom, reminding him to remove his shoes before he entered the pillow-padded room.. Keith turned slightly to his left in order to keep Pike in his line of sight just as a parent carried in a grumbling toddler. The dark skinned girl was patting at the woman’s shoulder as she grumbled and grunted. The woman who carried her looked exhausted and at her wits end. She approached Keith with fast, long strides. She huffed a piece of hair out of her face as she basically shoved a bag into his arm. Keith turned to face her fully with a tight lipped smile. The toddler tapped her shoulder at a faster pace. The woman groaned and turned back to the child.

  “I can’t get you anything unless you tell me what you want.” The woman grunted out as she shifted the girl further up her hip.. Her statement only seemed to make the toddler more distressed, her grunting became louder as she started to shake her head and hands. The woman sighed heavily as she looked at Keith fully. She pulled her lip up as her well trimmed eyebrow met her hair line. “Here. This is Branda. I signed her up yesterday and the man said you could handle ‘special’ kids.” The woman passed the toddler over, with great care to not actually touch Keith. She looked him over again. “Are you sure you’re capable of taking care of children like her?” The woman asked with disbelief dripping from her voice. Keith struggled to keep up his smile as he took Branda into his embrace with delicate hands.

  “Yes. I have a bachelor's in Special Education for mild to extreme disorders.”

  With Branda now on his hip, he could see that she had small spots of discoloration around her eyes, hands, and across her arms and legs. Her fluffy, black hair, which was frizzy and standing straight up being brushed, had small patches of white. When Branda looked up at him, as the woman hummed at his statement. “Well, anyway, We’ve had her for about a week and she’s just about to drive me insane.” The woman waved her hand side to side. “I know she can speak, but all she does is cry. She never tells us what she wants, so have fun with that. We really are not fans of daycares, but  I just don’t have the time to deal with her and I really need to get back to work. I have kids of my own to worry about as well.” The woman ran her hand through her hair as she turned to leave, waving goodbye over her shoulder. As she walked away, Keith heard her mumble to herself. “We should have told them to find her another foster family.” Keith’s heart stop and his eyes grew hot as he looked down at the poor little girl in his arms. Biting his tongue, he turned sharply and stomped to his room.

  “Stupid foster parents,” he mumbled under his breath.

  Branda tapped his shoulder along to the beat of his feet.

  Taking their shoes off, Keith sat her down in the room. Kneeling on his knees, Keith smiled at the girl. “Would you like a snack?” He asked gently, his voice soft and caring. Branda met his gaze as she started to pat her hands on her legs.

  “Snack, snack, snack, snack, snack.” She repeated over and over as the patting on her leg grew faster. Worry created heavy lines on Keith’s forehead as he picked her up and took her to a table. He sat her on one of the pillows before going to get her some of the puff cereal..

  After he had given Branda something to eat and checking on the other kids, Keith slipped out of the room to find Coran. Going to the main daycare room, he slowly scanned the room before he caught a glimpse of orange hair bobbing above the bouncing children. Slipping through the crowd, he grabbed a hold of Coran and pulled him into the office.

  “I need to ask you about the new girl in my class.” His voice was low because there were still parents wondering about.

  “Oh, yes. I forgot to inform you. Sweet Branda is an orphan who was just placed in a foster home near here. She surely is a special little dear. She is the sweetest little thing despite the rough life she has already had. She is really smart, but she cannot speak very well, and therefore gets frustrated with herself. If I recall correctly, her condition is called hyperlexia.” Keith nodded as he looked back to the room. Sadness and anger flickered across his face as he remembered the foster mom and her poor treatment of Branda, disability or not. Coran reached out and placed a hand on Keith’s shoulder, startling him just a little. “It would seem that you have met the foster mother, correct?” Keith answered Coran with a flat, emotionless face. “Oh, yes! That despicable woman. If it wasn’t for the sweet toddler, I would of kicked her out the moment she opened her mouth.” Coran paused before sighing, meeting Keith’s eyes before continuing. “I am sorry if she brought up any painful memories.”

  “It’s alright, Coran. Branda is worth it, I think.” Keith sighed as he turned back to his room. Coran patted his back and shot him a smile before returning to his section.

  When Keith entered the room, Pike had corralled Blue into the small library section and was reading a small book while laying on her. Keith laughed softly before he noticed a little puff of black hair poking out from the other side of Blue. Curious, Keith padded over to them and looked over Blue. There laying on the opposite of side of Pike, was Branda. She had a book larger than Pike’s in her lap. Yet as Keith watched, he noticed that the girl was not just looking at the pictures. She was actually reading it! Her little brown eyes scanned over every word as her fingers trailed over the sentences.. Keith continued to watch her progress through the book until he felt a tug on his pants. Glancing down, he saw that Pike was looking up at him.

  ‘What is it?’ He signed.

  ‘Smart.’ Pike answered, pointed at Branda. Keith nodded as he ruffled Pike’s hair before going to the bookshelf and grabbing one of the many textbooks he filled the room with. Flipping through the pages, he finally found the section over hyperlexia.

  After Coran dropped off the last child for Keith’s class, his day was filled with giving out snacks, picking up the mess from the snacks, breaking up little fights over toys, picking up toys, calming tantrums, leading basic school lessons, and laying down with the children for a quick nap. At the end of the day, Keith helped the children gather up all of their belongings and put their shoes back on. Herding them together, Keith lead them out to the main room in order to find their parents. With quick hugs, he said goodbye to the children for the day. Branda was one of the last kids to be picked up. She and Pike stood on each side of Keith’s legs, holding onto his pants. Pike had his other hand buried into Blue’s fur. Branda was tapping a simple pattern onto her other leg as she repeated words that she would hear from the other kids and parents. Minutes before closing, Branda’s foster mother came into the daycare with two other children trailing behind her. She walked up to Keith and took the diaper bag from him. She stretched her hand out and smiled at Branda.

  “Come on, let’s go,” She said in a much happier voice than the one she spoke with in the morning. Branda looked up at Keith before stepping over to the woman. She grinned down at the girl. “Did you have a good day?”

  “Good, good, good.” Branda nodded as grabbed onto the woman’s pants. One of the other children, a lanky, blonde boy sighed as he tilted his head back. The other little boy, just as blonde just as thin and lanky, whined.

  “Mom! She’s doing it again.”

  “Stop it.” She growled out as she tried to smile up at Keith. “Say goodbye, Branda.” She patted Branda’s head as she turned around. Branda whined herself as she waved both of her hands rapidly. Keith and Pike waved back to her as the mother hurried the children out of the daycare, scolding the boys about what is ‘right’ to be said in public. Keith gritted his teeth as he ran his fingers through Pike’s hair. Pike looked up at him.

  ‘Be right back,’ he signed as he walked into the office to get Blue’s harness.

~~~~~

  Keith opened the door and released Blue and Pike into the house. They raced forward, almost knocking Lance over. Lance waved his hands at Pike to get his attention. He simply looked at the four year old and signed ‘no’. Pike nodded as he slowed down, still walking fast to his room. Keith sighed as he walked over to Lance, his head falling forward. Lance rubbed his back as he hummed.

  “Long day?” His voice was soft and soothed Keith’s raw nerves. He met Lance’s eyes before leaning up to place a simple kiss on his lips.

  “Yeah. Just another rude parent who doesn’t understand the child’s disability. To make it even better, the woman is only the child’s foster mother.” Keith stepped away to flop down onto the couch. Lance followed after him, placing Keith’s head on his lap.

  “I’m sorry, babe. I know you didn’t have good experiences with foster parents, so that must had been extra hard for you to deal with.” Lance kissed Keith’s forehead as he started to run his fingers through his hair.

  “I left all of that in the past. I’m just lucky that I finally found a good family.” Keith sighed as he sunk further into the soft couch and Lance’s soft touch. Lance hummed a soft tune as Keith felt his stress melt away. He was lucky to have finally found Shiro and his family. Most kids don’t get that chance, especially not ones with disabilities. Hell, even Pike wasn’t lucky enough to be born to two parents that loved him even with his disability. Yet, he was pretty lucky to have a dad as loving and understanding as Lance. Lance never let Pike’s deafness stop him from loving his son or trying to give him the best life possible. Keith just hoped that Branda would find at least one parent who loved her like Lance loved Pike.

  Keith suddenly sat up, almost headbutting Lance in the process.

  “What? What’s wrong?” He looked around before meeting Keith’s gaze.

  “I want to have another baby.” Keith spoke fast and without thinking. Lance blinked at him with his mouth opening and closing. “Well, not any baby. One specific baby. Branda. She is so sweet, and smart, and cute. She has frizzy black hair and smooth, dark skin, which is speckled with spots of white. She gets along with Pike really well, and loves Blue. She’s just so great, Lance, and she deserves a better home than that devil woman can give her. I just want her to have the best life possible and we can give her that. I know it’s a lot to ask you to take on another kid with a disability, but she is-” Keith babbled on and on. Lance smiled as his brain finally caught up with what Keith was trying to say. Leaning forward, Lance cut Keith off with a long, soft kiss. Pulling away, he ran his hand across Keith’s cheek into his hair.

  “Come on.” He nudged Keith’s head off of his lap.

  “Where are we going?” Keith asked as he sat up. Sliding off of the couch, Lance picked Keith up, causing him to let out a rather high pitched screech,

  “Let’s go make a baby, huh?” Lance winked. Keith gasped and went bright red.

  “Lance!” He screamed as he started to kick his leg, Lance laughing as he twirled them around.

Next part of my “Homes Don’t Have to Be Perfect” Klance family AU. 

From now on, I will be posting short one shot moments of the Klance Family’s life. They will be posted singularly on here, but will be posted as chapters to one story on my AO3.

I will also be accepting request for any moments you all would like to see from the Klance Family. Message me or comment your request and I will do the best that I can to write it out :)

[whitehorsetiger]

Wanting Home

Fandom: Voltron Pairing: Klance Rating: T Word count: 4.9K

Summary: Lance is happy, living with his mate and pod in the ocean, travelling from place to place and discovering new things. After a searching through a sunken ship with Pidge and Hunk he is captured by some humans. Forced into captivity Lance must find a way to keep soldiering on and hopefully find a way back to his family.

Lance shifted through the water silently, watching and waiting for his opportunity. His prey was fast, but he was faster. If they got a head start though, he would have no chance of catching up. Lance wouldn’t lose though, he was a shark, ferocious predator of the sea. Just a bit closer, there. Flicking his tail powerfully, Lance shot through the water. He was almost there when he was spotted, but it was too late. Lance slammed into the other mer at almost full-speed, wrapping his arms around a slender waist. “Gotcha!” he yelled.

“What? The? Lance!” Keith shouted, twisting in his arms.

Lance laughed, flicking his tail idly, pulling the two of them along. Keith huffed, whacking Lance in the face with one of his fins. Lance growled playfully, nipping at the soft skin just above the scales of Keith’s tail.

“Lance,” Keith laughed, trying to wriggle out of the shark’s grip, “Get off.”

“Never! You’re mine now,” Lance said, “You’ll never get away!”

Keith smirked, gently resting his hands on Lance’s cheeks, guiding him up into a kiss.

“Why would I want to get away,” he said softly, before bringing their lips together.

Lance didn’t notice that his grip was getting looser, until Keith twisted out of it and swam away. 

“What was that about not letting me go?” he said, tilting his head to one side.

“Keith!” Lance shouted, giving chase.

The two of them darted through the water, chasing around and around each other.

“Hey!” Pidge shouted suddenly, causing them both to freeze, “Allura said it’s time to get moving, come on!”

“Oh yeah,” Lance said, “That’s why I came to get you.”

Keith rolled his eyes, flicking past Lance.

“Dolt,” he said affectionately, flicking his tail in Lance’s face.

“Hey! I was distracted,” Lance pouted, following after him.

Keith shook his head. Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith’s back, chasing after him and wrapping his arms around his neck.

“Lance,” Keith grumbled.

“Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

“Hitching a lift.”

“Could you not?”

“No.”

Keith huffed out a laugh, turning to look over his shoulder at Lance’s face.

“Alright you lazy remora,” he said, before darting off, Lance still attached to his back.

****

Their pod moved around a lot, never spending more than a few days in one place. There was a lot to discover in the ocean, so this life suited Lance just fine. Even better, when the only other option was being on his own.

Lance very carefully extracted himself from the tangle of Keith’s arms and tail, pressing a kiss delicately to the other mer’s temple before leaving him curled up asleep in their temporary den.

“Ready to go?” Pidge said brightly as Lance slipped out.

“Hell yes,” Lance grinned, “Where’s Hunk?”

“He needs a bit of encouragement,” Pidge smiled.

“I think we can manage that,” Lance said.

“This is a terrible idea,” Hunk said, trailing after the two of them.

“It’s going to be fine!” Lance said.

“Yeah! Come on! We’ve been to loads of wrecks before,” Pidge added.

“And something always goes wrong,” Hunk protested.

“And we come out of it just fine!” Lance said, “But fine, you can leave us.”

“Let us do this by ourselves,” Pidge added.

“Then live with yourself when we get hurt,” Lance shook his head.

“Always wondering what would have happened if you had just been there,” Pidge nodded dejectedly.

Hunk sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“Come on, lets get this over with.”

Lance wove in and out of the ship’s rooms with ease, squeezing through portholes and cracking open chests. There was always a lot of interesting things in shipwrecks, Lance always liked sifting through them. He couldn’t really take much with him, maybe the occasional gift. Pidge liked looking at all the different things, trying to work out what they did. Hunk spent about half his time searching through things and the other half worriedly following the other two around.

“We should probably go back,” Hunk said after a while, “Everyone will be going hunting soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok,” Pidge said, “Come on Lance.”

“Just a second,” Lance replied, wriggling his way out of the corner he’d wedged himself in.

“Elegant,” Pidge said, crossing her arms.

Lance ruffled her hair as he swam past.

“I can’t look stunning all the time Pidge, it’s intimidating,” Lance shrugged, “I’ve got to give others a chance.”

“Ass,” Pidge called after him.

Lance laughed, darting off.

The problem with fine plastic nets was they were impossible to see until you swam into them, as Lance suddenly discovered the hard way. He screeched in alarm as he was tangled up in the net, the fine weave cutting easily into his skin.

“Lance!” Hunk shouted, him and Pidge darting over.

They immediately began trying to free him, cutting the net with their claws. It began to haul him up though, towards the surface. They’d not been swimming particularly deep, there wasn’t enough time.

“Pidge, go back and get the rest of the pod, Hunk, help me slow this thing down,” Lance snapped, twisting himself in the net so he could swim down.

This caused it to wrap even tighter around him, but that was not important. Pidge darted off as Hunk held tightly onto Lance’s arms, helping pull him down. The two of them could only do so much though, only slowing his progress a little.

He was pulled out of the water tail-first. Lance desperately tried to fight against it, but once his entire tail was out there wasn’t much hope. Hunk was trying as hard as he could to pull Lance back into the water, but without Lance’s help he was rising faster than ever. As his full weight was pressed onto the net, Lance hissed in pain as it cut deeply. Hunk was still hanging on, trying to pull Lance down. He had no chance though, the pod were too far away.

“I’m sorry Hunk,” Lance said.

“You’re what?” Hunk said.

Lance reached out, swinging his hand, slashing at Hunk’s shoulder with his claws. Hunk yelled in pain, releasing Lance and falling into the water. He did feel bad about it, but at least Hunk would be ok.

Lance was not going down without a fight, no matter how much the net dug into him. He thrashed, snarling and baring his teeth as he was lowered onto the boat. The humans around him were talking, but Lance had no idea what they were saying. He hissed, swinging his free arm to try and slash at them if they came too near.

His arm was pinned down, his shoulders pinned too. Lance’s tail thrashed, but they seemed to avoid him pretty well. His head was cut free from the net, forced up so they could wrap something around his mouth. His hands were wrapped too, completely covering his claws. It was only then he was shoved and rolled into a hatch in the deck. He fell for a short distance before splashing into some too-shallow water. The hatch above him slammed closed and Lance was plunged into darkness.

****

Keith was used to waking up alone when they came to a new area, it was the only time Lance ever woke up before him. Stretching out his arms and fins, Keith pushed himself off the bottom of the small crevice they’d sheltered in. Shiro, Allura and Coran were already out and about, searching through the sand and rocks for anything to eat. Keith lazily flicked his way over to them, floating idly in the water.

“We’re going to have to go hunting?” he asked.

“Looks like,” Allura sighed, moving to float alongside him, “Although we’ll have to

wait for the others to come back.”

“They shouldn’t be too long,” Shiro said, joining them.

The cry of alarm caught everyone’s attention.

“Pidge?” Shiro said.

The four of them all rapidly moved towards her, even so, she continued to call out to them.

“Pidge? Pidge, what’s wrong?” Allura asked as they caught up with her.

“Lance and Hunk, there’s a net, we need to go!” she cried, flipping over to speed off.

Keith felt something icy cold drop into the pit of his stomach, he shot off in the direction of the sunken ship they’d spotted yesterday.

The scent and taste of blood hit him, causing Keith to let out an involuntary alarmed sound. He sped up as best he could, following the blood trail.

“Lance!” he called out, “Lance!”

There was more blood in the water, Keith was frantic looking for the source.

“Hunk!” Pidge called out, pointing.

The five of them darted towards him. Hunk was clutching his arm, the shoulder cut open with four clean cuts.

“Where’s Lance?” Pidge asked.

Keith had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer.

“He’s gone,” Hunk said, his eyes wide, “They drew him up onto their boat, he scratched me to get me to let him go.”

“No,” Keith said, backing up.

“Keith,” Shiro said softly, reaching out.

“NO!” Keith yelled, darting away, “He can’t be gone, he just can’t be!”

“Keith, no one comes back from the boats,” Allura said softly.

“He can’t, he can’t,” Keith said, curling in on himself, “He can’t be gone, Lance.”

Keith wailed, a horrible heart-wrenching sound, causing the others to flinch. His mate was gone, Lance was gone and there was no coming back.

****

Lance was scared, he curled up as tightly as he could in the darkness. His hand was curled around his shark-tooth necklace, he took comfort in Keith having a matching one, to signify their bond. The water was barely half way up his body, sloshing slightly as the boat moved. The bindings around his hands and his muzzle were impossible to get off, at least in the pitch black. It was looking a little hopeless.

Lance flinched away as the hatch was opened, light flooding the container he was in. Forcing his eyes open to take in his surroundings, Lance looked up to see several human faces, looking down at him. He tried to hiss, but it lost its impact as the muzzle muffled it. They seemed to be talking, but again, Lance didn’t understand their language. Suddenly the area beneath him began to move, rising him up towards the people. He tried to move away, but there was no water for him to swim though, or to support his heavy tail.

He was hauled out of the ship, over the side and into something else. There was a lot more water, so Lance could swim around a little. It wasn’t very big though, he hit glass after barely a tail flick. It began to move and Lance regretted being able to see. There were so many creatures, filling many many tanks. There were a few mer, some fish, some sharks, some seals. None of them looked very happy.

Lance was slotted in between two other tanks, between two others mers. He glanced between the two of them, curling his tail tighter around himself. They both looked as scared as he felt, flaring their fins.

“Where am I?” Lance tried to ask, but the muzzle stopped any attempt.

Humans were walking up and down between the tanks, looking at the creatures inside. One of them walked right up to Lance’s tank, tapping on the glass. Lance flinched away from the horribly loud sound.

****

This system continued for a few days, or at least what Lance thought were days. The lights were clicked on, people walked between the tanks looking at them, another chunk of fish the lights were clicked off. It was unbelievably boring and the lack of his pod caused an ache in his chest that just seemed to grow. The other mer surrounding him helped a little, although they couldn’t talk to each other they’d developed some hand signals.

Lance was floating idly in the centre of his tank, there wasn’t much point in moving, or anything really. He was so hungry, it had been days since he had last eaten. Some of the humans were stood in front of his tank, Lance recognised one of them as the one who tossed him chunks of fish. They were talking and pointing to him, but at this point he really couldn’t care.

They moved away again, leaving him to float again. Then, the tank started to move. Lance jolted slightly, sinking to the bottom so he wouldn’t move around too much. What was happening now? He was taken from his place between the two other mer, them waving goodbye as they’d seen the humans do. Lance waved back, not really wanting to go but not having much of a choice. He was hauled out of his tank again, dropped into an even smaller one. Doors were shut behind him, once again plunging Lance into darkness.

****

He was hauled out of the smaller tank and the muzzle was finally removed. Lance hissed and snarled, snapping at the humans that were stood close to him. Lance was lowered into another tank, released to float in the water. This one, was much bigger.

Lance could actually swim, well, to a certain degree. There were some rocks and sand at the bottom of this one, weeds seeming to grow up from the bottom. Lance circled the tank once, then caught a scent he was all too familiar with. There were other mers in here. He followed the scent to an indentation in the rock, where three other mer were curled up.

“Don’t eat us,” one of them said. 

“I’m not going to eat you,” Lance said, leaning over slightly, “I don’t eat other mer, no matter how hungry I get. My mate is a fish-mer, it would be strange.”

The one who had spoken slipped out from the heap they’d made themselves, swimming up so she was face-to-face with Lance.

“Oh, we assumed as he expected you to eat us,” she said, gesturing.

Lance turned, looking and spotting a human looking into the tank, watching them.

“You can understand him?” Lance asked, turning back to her.

“Of course, you can’t?” the mer replied.

The other two slipped out from the crevice, floating just behind her.

“No, I haven’t had much contact with humans,” Lance said.

“You haven’t? Where are you from?”

“The ocean,” Lance replied.

“The ocean? Really?” one of the other mers said, peaking around the first one,

“What’s it like there?”

“Plaxum, hush,” the first mer said, “You were taken from the ocean? So you don’t understand the humans?”

Lance shook his head, “That’s right.”

She nodded, “Alright then, I am Luxia, this is Florona and Plaxum.”

“Lance.”

****

Living in the tank was an unusual experience. For one, there wasn’t a great deal of room to swim around. For another, he didn’t have to hunt, they were simply fed already dead fish. Finally, there was no meeting anyone else. There was him, Luxia, Florona and Plaxum, that was it. In short, it was not good. Lance missed the open waters, missed chasing his dinner, most of all, he missed Keith and the rest of his pod.

“Is that from your mate?” Plaxum asked, pointing at the sharks tooth.

“We have matching ones,” Lance replied, brushing his fingers across it lightly, “It signifies we’re mates.”

“That’s sweet,” Plaxum said, tilting her head to one side, “Do you go hunting together and things.”

“Yeah, we did,” Lance said, curling a hand over his chest.

“Plaxum, hush,” Luxia said, “You’re prying again.”

“Sorry,” Plaxum said, looking away.

“No, don’t worry, I don’t mind,” Lance smiled.

The three mermaids had been bred and raised in captivity, they’d never been out to the ocean. Plaxum seemed obsessed with asking Lance all about it, although once he’d started talking Luxia and Florona always gathered around to listen. Lance liked it, it broke up the monotony of the day.

“So you just swim wherever you want?” Plaxum asked.

Lance nodded, “We change locations every few days, it means we get to explore a lot.”

“Wow,” Plaxum said softly.

“That sounds amazing,” Florona added, “And you only know human things from searching sunken ships?”

Lance nodded, “They’re amazing things to look around, that’s how I met Keith you know.”

“That’s a story you haven’t told us,” Luxia said, “How did a mer-shark end up with a mer-fish as a mate?”

“It’s a long story,” Lance chuckled awkwardly.

“We have a lot of time,” Florona said, perking up, “Please tell us.”

“Alright then.”

****

There was something wrong with Florona. It had started a few days ago simply with her not feeling too well. She’d curled up in the small cove they liked to hide in and refused to move. Lance, Luxia and Plaxum tried to help her feel better, bringing her food and using their tails to keep the water around her moving. It was all they really could do to help. Unfortunately, she only seemed to get worse.

“So, then what happened?” Florona asked, head pillowed on her arms.

“Well, there wasn’t really much I could do,” Lance said, “So I just sort of laid

there for a bit, trapped under this boat until Hunk and Pidge finally found me. After Pidge had finished laughing at me, they finally helped lift the boat enough so I could wriggle free. Suppose I got lucky with that.”

“Did you get trapped under ships often?”

“Not under them, in them yes, more often than I want to tell you.”

Florona giggled, fins fluttering weakly. It had been a while since anyone had got her to smile. She seemed to be drifting off again and Lance, for once, couldn’t’ think of anything to say.

“Could you tell us the story of the sharks again?” Plaxum asked suddenly, flicking over to lay beside them, “That’s one of our favourites.”

Lance nodded, “Sure thing.”

She only got worse, waking up only to eat.

“I hoped it wasn’t,” Luxia sighed, “She won’t survive much longer.”

“There’s nothing we can do?” Lance asked, curling an arm around himself.

Luxia shook her head, “Look at her fins, see how there are holes in them? That’s the end stages.”

“We’ve lost a lot of mer to this,” Plaxum nodded seriously, “Sometimes it can be stopped before it sets in, but…”

The three of them looked to the cove where Florona was curled up asleep.

“We must keep her as comfortable as possible, that is all we can do,” Luxia said.

“Do you not have anything like this?” Plaxum asked.

“We have a sickness,” Lance said softly, “But it never gets this bad.”

They curled around her in a heap, Lance’s long tail almost encompassing all three of the mermaids. Florona’s gills were fluttering weakly, they’d started to gum up so she had to go to the surface often to breathe. Even then, she’d cough up gunk form her lungs. Lance pushed himself up to lean on his elbows. Untangling his tail from around them, he pushed away from the bottom. There was a lot of noise from outside the tank, lot of people talking. Plaxium had been teaching him how to understand them, but it was very complicated. It also didn’t help that they were all talking over each other.

Luxia floated up beside him, watching the humans through the glass.

“They are taking Florona away,” she said.

“What?” Lance snapped.

“It is for the best,” Luxia said, “If they don’t, we may all die.”

“It’s not fair,” Lance said softly.

Luxia shook her head.

“This is the life of a captive mer, you have to learn to live like this. You are one of us now,” she said, before floating off.

****

Lance drummed his finger against the glass, looking out into the room.

“Lance,” Plaxum said, floating up beside him, “I brought you some dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat,” she replied, “Please.”

Lance let out a long breath, he was sick of fish. 

“Maybe later,” he said.

Plaxum’s fins drooped as she nodded.

“Ok, he’s watching pour favourite show if you want to come see?” she said.

“Yeah,” Lance smiled at her, “I’ll be over in a second.”

Plaxum nodded, flicking away to the other side of the tank. Lance let out a long breath, resting his forehead against the glass.

“I’m sorry Keith,” he said softly, “Looks like I may have to leave you after all.” He pushed away from the glass, floating over to where Luxia and Plaxum were watching the TV through the glass.

“So, what’s happening?”

Lance had given up. Even throughout the whole ordeal, he had hoped, hoped there was a way for him to go home. So many days had passed, boredom was steadily eating away at him, the bland monotony of food wasn’t helping. Plaxum and Luxia were trying to help, but Lance didn’t want to talk about the ocean anymore. There was a chasm in his chest, talking about it just made it worse.

Lance floated in the middle of the tank, staring out into the empty room. His head jerked up, looking around suddenly.

“Can you hear that?” he said.

“Shouting? Yeah,” Plaxum said, “I can’t understand them though.”

Luxia joined them, pressing her hands to the glass.

“It doesn’t sound good.”

The door banged open, causing the three of them to jump. Many people charged in, shouting. The three of them glanced at each other, before darting to try and hide in the crevice.

It didn’t really help, their rocks were removed and they were hauled from the tank one by one. Lance didn’t even have the energy to hiss or growl at them. The three of them were bound down to large plastic things. None of them could move.

“What’s happening?” Lance called out.

“They’re moving us somewhere,” Luxia said, “I don’t know where.”

They were loaded up into something, then back into darkness.

“So, now we wait,” Luxia said.

“Hey Lance,” Plaxum said, “What do you think the new place will be like?”

“As long as they have better food,” Lance said.

****

The tank he was lowered into was much bigger than the last one, it was outdoors, it even had a little platform where he could lay in the sun. It didn’t stop it being a tank though. Lance managed to circle the whole thing in a few minutes. He surfaced, looking around. There wasn’t much around, although there was a large net where the tank was divided and over the top. Lance swam over to it, looking over. There was another tank on the other side. He couldn’t see anyone in there though. He wondered where Plaxum and Luxia were, but he couldn’t really go looking for them.

Something smelled amazing. Lance perked up, flicking his head from side to side. He darted towards it, following the scent. Something was sinking in the water, the same way the dead fish did, but it smelled so much more appealing. Lance shot towards it, catching it easily. He sank his teeth into it, devouring it as quickly as he could. After nothing but boring fish, it was divine. It reminded him of seal, although there was a slightly different taste. He groaned in pleasure, licking the remnants off his fingers. That was so much better.

“Lance? Lance?” Lance perked up at the sound of his name.

“Plaxum?” Lance asked, surfacing.

“Lance! Luxia, look, it’s Lance!” she called.

Lance smiled, swimming over to the two of them. They were in the other tank, looking through the net at him.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” Plaxum said, “We were worried about you.”

“Oh?” Lance replied.

“They were also worried you would eat us,” Luxia said, “Despite finding us together.”

“Humans are strange,” Lance shook his head.

****

Lance was having a bit of a better time. With the bigger tank to swim around in and the interesting variety of food. They once gave him a whole crab to break open himself. With his claws now unwrapped it was very easy for him to do.

He lay on the small bit of ground, most of his tail still in the water as he sunbathed. He was half asleep, swaying his tail lazily from side to side. The sound of footsteps, probably of the humans walking past overhead. He yawned and stretched, before crying out in alarm. Something big and heavy dropped over him, followed by yelling and the sound of many feet. Lance thrashed, trying to get his head free to bite. He was pinned down all too quickly though. The humans moved around him, Lance had no idea what they were doing but next thing he knew he was being hauled up.

He didn’t really know where he was going, or really what was happening. There was something over his head the whole time.

Lance could hear the ocean, he jerked his head from side to side. Whatever was over his eyes was taken off, and Lance was staring at the ocean, at his home. He wriggled, trying to get out of where he was tied up. The humans were talking, but Lance didn’t really care what they were saying. He was lowered into the water; his straps were released. Lance darted away, using his hands to claw through the sand and drag him deeper. He was free, he was home. Now, all he had to do was find his pod, that moved around all the time and rarely went to the same place twice. Lance paused, there was one place he could go, one place they may return to.

****

Keith stared out over the ocean, watching the rise and fall of the waves. It was oddly pretty. He curled his hands around his shark-tooth necklace, looking down at it. He remembered when Lance gave it too him, showing off his own matching one. Apparently they had fallen out of Jessie, when asked if she was Lance’s favourite shark, he’d gasped dramatically and said he couldn’t possibly pick a favourite. Keith smiled sadly at the memory, sighing as he turned it over and over in his hand.

“Keith?” Shiro surfaced not far away.

Keith sighed, looking away from him, twitching his fins.

“Keith we need to get moving,” Shiro said, swimming over.

Keith let go of his necklace, looking down at his hands.

“Keith?”

“I heard you, I’m coming,” Keith said, sliding off the rock into the water.

Ever since they’d lost Lance, everyone stuck as close together as they could. Keith often found himself at the bottom of a cuddle pile, but it didn’t really help the icy feeling in his chest. Hunk and Pidge were flanking him on either side, keeping him close. There was another pod of mer heading towards them, singing brightly. Mer sang for all different reasons the main ones were to attract a mate and to tell a story. These ones were telling a story, not one of their own though.

They were singing of a mer who was captured by humans, who made friends with captive mer, who lost one of their friends, who was moved again before being returned to the ocean, who was now searching for their family.

“That’s an interesting song,” Allura said, “Where did you hear it from?”

“Another pod, they heard it from another pod, who heard if from a lone reef mer, who heard it from a lone shark mer who heard it from another pod.”

“Where was the original song from?” Allura asked.

“Oh, a shark mer, by the old wreck near the reef to the south.”

“Thank you,” Allura nodded, before turning to the others, “Come along then.”

“You don’t think that could be…?” Hunk started.

“It’s not Lance,” Keith said coldly.

“We can’t assume it’s Lance, however, it won’t hurt to talk to someone who had interaction with humans.”

Keith glowered and turned away.

“Lets get this over with then.”

They swam, towards where the song was sung. As they got closer and closer, Keith recognised where they were going.

“No,” he said, stopping dead in the water, “I can’t go back there.”

“Keith…” Shiro started.

“No, I can’t go back there Shiro!” Keith said, “I can’t, not there.”

He couldn’t, he couldn’t go back to the wreck where he met Lance.

“We’ll rest here for the night,” Allura said, “We shall go there tomorrow, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

Keith turned away, he wouldn’t go back there.

Someone was singing, it was the middle of the night and someone was singing. Keith frowned, sitting up and tilting his head to one side. There was something awfully familiar about that voice, something calling to him. Carefully wriggling out of the pile, Keith followed the echoing voice. Something deep inside him reacted to the voice, he didn’t even realise he was approaching the wreck until he was right in front of it. Keith slipped inside, following the voice until he was led into one of the large open rooms. There, in the centre was the source of the singing. A very familiar shark-mer.

“Lance?” Keith said.

The mer turned, his singing cutting off. A brilliant smile lightly up his face.

“Keith.”

“Lance!” Keith shouted, shooting towards Lance.

Lance opened his arms wide, Keith crashed straight into them.

“You’re here! You’re alive!” Keith said, clinging tightly to Lance.

“I’m here,” Lance said, “I’m right here.”

He gathered Keith up in his arms and the curve of his tail, running his fingers through his hair. Keith rested his hands on Lance’s cheeks, pressing their lips together.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Keith said, “I thought you were gone forever.”

Lance smiled softly, holding Keith as close as he could.

“Do I have a story to tell you.”