#honestly i dare not think it. i cant handle the disappointment again

[nexttothelamp]

<3

[bnhaficsforthesoul]

Shiggy headcanons because he <3

warning: some nsfw and I say when it starts

okay first off, yes please help him take care of his skin but be nice about it, he is self conscious about his skin and will think you think hes ugly if you dont bring it up right- best way to go about it is say that you know it bothers him and makes him uncomfortable physically and mentally and you want to help him and you think that these products could help

cause he appreciates you looking out for him a lot

it also helps if you do a skin care routine with him! he thinks of it as a fun bonding time for the both of you and you being there in the habit of doing it everyday helps to remind him to do it everyday

at the beginning he could be very selfish and demanding of you (mainly of your attention and time) while also not giving you much in return- he didnt mean to, he legitimately has no idea what a healthy relationship looks like, all he knows is that he craves your attention and love but doesnt know how to give it back and is scared to anyways

you're really gonna have to be patient with him, help him to understand that you need to be given affection as well and that relationships require work from both sides - hell take everything you say very seriously because he doesnt want to disappoint you

he opens up in odd increments, hell go from you cannot know anything about me to heres my life story in 10 minutes, leaves out details here and there that hell save for another time, but hes not trying to trauma dump or anything its just so healing for him to be able to get it out to a positive outlet that sometimes he can give you a bit much without warning, but of course you want to help him so you comfort him as best you can

so scared of touching you, at first hes wary even with wearing gloves because just what if - what if something goes wrong and suddenly you're gone, he cant handle that

but he slowly gets there, first getting more comfortable with just you touching him and then hell carefully link his pinky with yours or press your foreheads together, small things that you learn to love

when he learns to control his quirk to the point of not having to worry about this anymore, he excitedly runs up to you hands out and just grabs you, let's his hands run all over your body in the most innocent way possible, for the first time he can actually feel you fully and hes so in love

if anyone even dared to hurt you he would kill them without a second thought, you are without question the most important thing on this planet, nothing else matters

he can be extremely possessive, but it's mainly because hes terrified you'll leave. he doesnt think hes attractive or has a good personality or any good redeeming qualities, he has no idea why someone as perfect as you would even consider looking in his direction, but he never wants you to leave

god he loves kisses. so much. could kiss you for the rest of eternity and would never get bored. when you pull away he will chase your lips and pull you in again

tell him hes gorgeous please. he needs to hear it, he has no idea how genuinely beautiful he is :(

he loves when you wear his clothes. they're more than likely all very dirty, especially if you wear them long enough to get them to smell like you because he wont wash them just to keep the smell (so you're probably gonna have to wash his clothes and help him to get into the habit of doing so), but he thinks you're so gorgeous in his clothes. its probably another aspect of him being possessive and liking things that make it obvious that you're with him, but he wouldnt mind if you stole everything in his closet

loves having you seated on his lap, especially during important meetings. yeah, hes got the hottest s/o on the planet, no one else can have them, cope.

seriously he loves showing off that you're with him he will brag endlessly if the situation allows it

loves playing video games with you of course, at first you were lucky to be able to be seated at his side and watch as he played, but now he got you your own special controller and cant wait to continue playing whatever 2 player game he can find

he gets you really cute gifts, probably stolen or things he found laying around, but they're always so soft - the sweetest gift he ever gave you was one of his old plushies that he keeps in his room, he washed it and everything for you and gave it to you so that even when hes not there you have something of him

loves when you play with his hair, it's probably tangled 90% of the time because he cant be bothered to even think about brushing his hair but will let you brush it for him and run your fingers through it and everything

though he does whine when you accidentally brush too hard and pull on his hair harshly, but his hair is seriously tangled and the brush might get stuck in it unless you're brushing it often

wants to protect you from the world. hes so worried about you constantly, he doesnt know what hed do if something happened to you, but if you're out hes always got an eye on you if hes not physically holding onto you

not a relationship thing but I just gotta throw in my nonbinary he/they Shiggy headcanon :)

I was trying to keep this mainly sfw but I just gotta include some nsfw, poor baby is extremely horny. mega horny 24/7. he probably wants to fuck you as soon as you start dating

whether you do or not is up to you, but just know he is not experienced at all. hes watched insane amounts of porn but quickly realizes that he cant use that as a basis for what to actually do with you, so you're gonna have to teach him a lot. even if you're inexperienced as well, you'll probably have a better idea generally than he does

after a lot of practice and semi embarassing moments, he gets pretty good at sex honestly. he genuinely wants to make you feel good and will listen to everything you say. hes very open to everything you want to try too

hes got some more extreme kinks that many people wouldnt be willing to even try, and he respects if you dont want to go into them because again he wants you to enjoy yourself

hell sub a lot at the beginning of your sex life because hes confused and you're probably taking the lead on things, but as he gets more confident that he actually knows what hes doing he goes more and more into being a dom - can and will still sub if you want him to, but generally ends up domming

[xxsovereignsarayaxx]

Elizabeth Mikaelson - What If  Chapter 14

Authors Note: I’m back baby! Here is a super long chapter to make up for my absence. I also want to get to know the super amazing family who read this so feel free to send me questions or requests. Any-hoo Enjoy this fab new chapter!! Want to be added to the Lizzie-Lijah Stag Tag? Let me know you beautiful people! 🖤💜

Lizzie-Lijah Stag Tag: @skeletoresinthebasement Daniel laid dead on the wooden floor his heart by his lifeless corpse, Elijah was busy wiping his hand that was covered in the young hybrids blood with his neatly pressed white handkerchief that was commonly found in the inner pockets of his suits. I stood in the doorway shocked but I was also happy to see my husband was finally free from his coffin and from that wretched silver dagger. Both Niklaus and Elijah had taken a glace to see me standing among them. 

"So Niklaus what did I miss?" Elijah asked. 

Nik was stunned unable to answer his brother, I couldn't help myself any longer even though I was a little distance away I sped over to my husband and looked him deep in his brown eyes momentarily getting lost in them. 

"Elizabeth you look beautiful as ever." He says while tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear and then following up to gently take my hand and plants a small kiss on my knuckle. 

"Niklaus you look surprised to see me so it wasn't you who removed the dagger from my chest." Elijah said breaking the silence, letting go of my hand and turned to take a few steps towards his brother. 

"You look like you could do with a drink. And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?" Nik suggests, gesturing for Elijah to follow him to move to another part of the house. 

Suddenly out of nowhere Elijah sped towards his brother and attacked him throwing him through a set of closed doors, hearing glass and wood smashing alike. "Easy! I've just finished renovating" Niklaus shouts gritting his teeth. Getting back to his feet Nik rushes over and puts Elijah through a table. 

"NIKLAUS! ELIJAH!" I shouted trying to get them to stop fighting before one of them got seriously hurt. 

"You know you have every right to be mad at me. But I kept my word, I reunited you with our family." Niklaus says while he had Elijah pinned down. 

Elijah rushed up and attacks his brother once more bringing the fighting to where the coffins were stored noticing that they had no intention of stopping anytime soon I quickly had to use my speed and agility to move out of the way otherwise I would have been collateral damage. Niklaus got knocked against one of the coffins and swiftly opens the lid and removes the dagger from the occupant and threatens my husband with it while pinned against another. 

"Don't make me do this to you again Elijah!" Nik says. 

"Come on. Use it. I dare you. You'll have Kol to deal with." Elijah replied. 

"NIK!" I shouted once more. 

I was getting upset more by the second this fight carried on and my emotions were flying all around the place, I stared at the silver dagger that was in my brother in laws hand and suddenly I heard a sizzling sound and Nik drops the dagger in a flash. The sound of the dagger hitting the floor breaks my focus and I just flutter my eyelids in confusion. Using the quick sudden turn in events I rushed over and grabbed the dagger earning a glare from Niklaus and a worried look from Elijah. 

"Mikael is dead!" Nik blurted out relaxing his grip on his brother. 

"What did you say?" Elijah replied dumbfounded straightening up. 

"I killed him. With his own weapon. He's gone Elijah. Forever." Nik says walking over to me gesturing for me to hand him back the dagger, my eyes met with his and I reluctantly placed the hilt of the dagger into his palm. 

"Why do our family remain in these coffins? Finn for over nine hundred years, Kol for over a century." Elijah asks. 

"Because of Stefan Salvatore. He holds the one thing keeping me from freeing them. There are things that you do not know about our past, Elijah. Our mother's death. Things I never wanted you to know but I'm ready to tell you now. I only ask that you remember the oath of loyalty you once swore to me." Nik states, he moves to a small table that was placed to the side of the room and opens the lid on a small jar dipping the tip if the dagger inside it and made his way over to the coffin where the body if Kol was placed in. 

"Nik? What are you doing?" I asked softly. The dagger is inserted back into Kol and Nik looks at me for a moment and then at Elijah. 

"Always and forever. I need you both to stand by my side. Elijah be my brother. Help me destroy Stefan and I promise you both our family will be whole again." Nik promised us as he closed the lid on Kol's coffin.

After the confrontation between Elijah and Niklaus, Nik had left, said he was hungry and left me and Elijah alone. Instinctively I went to go find a sweeping brush to start tidying up the mess of the broken glass and wood the two brothers had caused in their fight. It was only as I was about to leave the room Elijah gently grabbed me by the hand to stop me moving. 

"I've missed you my dear." He says bringing me into an embrace. 

"I've missed you to Elijah, so much it was driving me crazy not having you by my side." I admitted inhaling his scent while feeling safe in his arms. 

"I have no intention on leaving your side again Elizabeth you have my word." Elijah tells me. 

"I love you." I replied breaking away from Elijah's embrace. 

"And I love you."

With that Elijah's lips were on mine. The feeling of his touch on my body once more brought sparks throughout my body, the kiss became rough as we moved around throughout the house and we ended up in our bedroom. My hands slipped around Elijah's neck as I looked into his eyes, a small tear left my own eyes and I pressed a long, deep kiss on his lips. 

"Forgive me." I whispered and with a simple motion I snapped the neck of my husband, his body slumped against mine as I gently laid his body on the bed, getting up  I quickly made my way over to my handbag that was placed near the door and lifted out a small needle filled with heavily concentrated vervain giving the contents a quick flick I then gently inserted the needle into Elijah's arm, I had to reduce his healing ability, I just had to. Yes I worked so hard trying to get Elijah back and I honestly I felt so guilty for snapping Elijah's neck, but I need to step up and take control to what and how this family handle things we cant just kill anyone who stood in our way, we have the ability to negotiate with our enemies so why don't we? I took a final glance at the bed and got dressed to meet up with Damon.

It was early morning and as I searched walking through some of the woods I picked up the end of a phone call. "Tea with a friend." I stood tall and proud as I waited for Damon to end the call. 

"Now your not my favorite original, matter of fact your not an original at all but your by far the prettiest of the Mikaelson's." Damon says sarcastically putting his phone in his pocket. 

"Best not let Rebekah hear you say that." I replied with a chuckle. 

"I put two and two together Damon I know it was you who removed the dagger from my husband, I mean who else would have slipped this note inside Elijah's jacket pocket?" I added pulling the note from my coat pocket holding it with two fingers. 

Damon let out a small laugh. "Oh yeah, Dear Elijah, let's get together and plot the destruction of your brother xoxo." 

I raised my eyebrow "Damon." I finished. 

"Was I right to un-dagger Elijah or are we going to have a problem?" Damon asks me. 

"Considering I took a page from Niklaus' handbook just to be here you tell me." I replied. 

"Where is that husband of yours then?" Damon asked. 

"Curious one aren't we? Elijah is currently recovering from a snapped neck so he won't be joining our little chat, but I do hope my little ruse didn’t leave any hard feelings? I'm here now let's talk." I replied sarcastically. 

"I'll start with an easy question. Any idea what kind of Klaus-killing weapon could be magically sealed in a mystery coffin?" Damon asked once more. 

"Now we both know I'm not that old however I'm aware of a few family secrets, well how about this. I shall organize I nice little evening to where your brother and Niklaus can try and patch things up and you pop the lid on the mystery coffin." I replied sweetly. 

"How about telling me what's inside it?" Damon inquired. 

"You get Stefan to agree to be on his best behavior and I'll explain everything once the lid is open." I sassed. 

"How can we be sure your on our side?" Damon asks. 

"You don't, I'll see you at eight." I said with a smile and quickly left leaving Damon standing alone in the woods.

As I returned back to the mansion I saw Elijah sitting in the living room a glass of whiskey perched on the arm of the chair he was sat crossed legged in a old book sat in his lap, he glances up as he sees me walk through the front door. All that was present of the face of my husband was the look of disappointment, so in order to get things cleared up I made my way over to him. Cautiously I closed the book Elijah was reading. 

"I understand you have have every right to be furious with me." I said quietly. 

"I don't think furious is the correct word my dear, betrayed seems to be more fitting." Elijah replied dryly. 

"I had no choice, with you gone it was down to me to play your role in this family. Niklaus was causing nothing but chaos..." I started. 

"And yet you joined him? Seems you and Niklaus have spent too much time together." Elijah interrupted. 

"My efforts were to get you back Elijah! It was all I ever wanted. I had to get Nik to believe I was on his side. I couldn't sleep at night knowing you were so close yet so far from my reach, call me pathetic but I felt like I was going insane. I didn't have your touch, presence, I just didn't have you. I chose you all those years ago and I still choose you now Elijah. You are my husband. Just as I am your wife." I shot back as I poured my feelings out. 

"I love you Lijah, I always have and I always will." I added with a whisper. 

I looked down at my wrist to check the time on my rose gold watch, I had roughly nine hours to put together a civilized dinner between the Mikealson's and the Salvatore's. 

"I hate to put this conversation on pause but we have some other matters to discuss, I've invited Damon and Stefan Salvatore to dinner tonight, if you would like to join me in having a hand to prepare the menu for this evening I would be honored. Your wine pairings have been perfect over the years." I suggested with a smile. Elijah straightened his tie and fiddled with his cuff links. 

"Of course, shall we?" Elijah says holding out his hand.

After some hard work with getting Nik to be on his best behavior and agree to attend tonight's dinner, along with setting up the perfect menu for the evening, I was finally sat in front of the wooden oak vanity in mine and Elijah's shared bedroom, carefully brushing through my curled hair to add a pair of diamond earrings, the final touches to my dress for the evening. It was an elegant off the shoulder, red knee length dress showing just the right amount of cleavage. Pairing with matching red high heels I looked simply divine. I felt the cold sensation of metal drop to my collarbone. 

"I know we haven't spoken about anything but business since this morning, but you look simply beautiful, however I felt you were missing something." Elijah says gently as he places a white gold necklace around my neck. After fixing the clasp he planted a simple kiss to my lower neck. 

"After this evening has been done and dusted I wanted to have a talk if that's ok?" I asked. 

"I'd love nothing more" Elijah replied helping me to my feet. As we both walked down the stairs hand in hand we saw Nik waiting for us at the bottom. 

"Seems that you both are better acquainted." He says with a smirk. 

"Not now brother." Elijah says shaking his head a little, as he made his way to the front door, as he opens it revealing Damon and Stefan. 

"Please behave yourself." I said in a hushed tone as I was straightening my dress. 

"Niklaus, Elizabeth our guests have arrived." Elijah says as he invites the two brothers inside, we were all stood in the hallway of the mansion. 

"Damon. Stefan. Elijah tells me, you seek an audience. Very bold. Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?" Nik states. 

Stefan glanced at Elijah raising an eyebrow "It's better to indulge him." Elijah adds. 

"Come gentlemen, a lovely menu has been created just for tonight's proceedings, I do hope it is to your liking." I announced to try and ease the tension as I lead everyone into the dinning room, the large table was all set up with food with the slight help if the two female servants Niklaus had compelled to assist me. 

"I didn't come here to eat. Fact, I didn't want to come here at all. But I was told I had to cause Klaus would hear us out." Stefan grumbles. 

"Well, we can sit and eat this lovely meal my sister in law has put together or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. The choice is yours." Niklaus replies. 

We all sat at the table and everyone apart from Stefan began eating. One of the servants pours wine in our glasses. "Thank you Marla." I replied sweetly as she moved to Damon's glass. 

"Thank you, love." Damon says with a flirtatious smile. 

"You lost your appetite?" Niklaus asks Stefan. "Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home." Damon says to his brother, sighing 

Stefan starts to eat the food that was placed in front of him, I looked around the room and I gave a reassuring smile to each of the male vampires in the room. 

"That's the spirit. Isn't it nice? Five of us dining together? Such a treat. Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?" Niklaus says to Damon with a smirk. 

"Well, I know how he felt about you, so I figured the more, the merrier." Damon replied playfully and winked at Elijah. Rolling my eyes I reached out to take another sip of wine. 

"Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the century. But we always make it through." Nik replied with a smug look. 

"The only reason why you and Elijah made it through this century is the fact that I was often around to try and stop the you pair destroying whatever house or town we lived in." I thought to myself. 

"Kind of like you and Rebekah, right? Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her." Stefan spoke up stealing Nik's smug expression from him. 

"If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah." Nik replied. 

"Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad? Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert." Damon said sarcastically. 

"We're here to make a deal, Damon. Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses." Stefan shot back in a grump. 

"I think what your brother is trying to say is that we have a lovely evening ahead of ourselves so pace yourself Mr Salvatore." I interjected pointing my knife at Stefan with a sickly smile.

The next few courses seemed to go on without a hitch until Elijah had asked about Elena. "Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?" Elijah asked innocently. 

"I don't know. Ask Damon." Stefan replied sharply. Nik started to laugh at the sudden change of atmosphere. 

"I'm sorry, you've missed so much. Ah, trouble in paradise." I let out a sigh at Nik’s reply to his brother. 

"One more word about Elena and this dinner's over." Stefan snapped. 

I sent a glare at my brother and he stopped chuckling and put a finger to cover his lips. "Perhaps it's probably best if we keep Miss Gilbert in the do-not-discuss pile" I said to the other males at the table, hoping that it would be a warning to Niklaus to keep quite about Elena. 

"I think your right." Damon said agreeing with me. Shortly after that I had excused myself from the table to help the two compelled humans take some of the empty dishes into the kitchen to be cleaned and put away. 

"Its just the allure of the Petrova doppelganger, still so strong." Niklaus said from the other room his words echoed in my mind as I scrapped the left over food into the bin. 

"Mrs Mikaelson shall we bring out the next course?" Marla asked me. Breaking myself from my thoughts I recomposed myself, "Yes would you please take out the next course while I speak with my husband regarding another bottle of wine." I replied back to her. 

As Marla left I went over to the cupboard and selected five clean wine glasses. "So you both loved the same girl?" I overheard Stefan ask. Placing the glasses on the side I quickly re-entered the dinning room. 

"Yes both Niklaus and Elijah have loved the same girl, on more then one occasion might I add. Harsh words and blows where traded but they are as strong now then ever before because 'Family above all' is the sacred bond that keeps us together." I said proudly.  

"Family above all." Elijah and Niklaus said in unison clinking their glasses together.  

"So, why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah says to break the silence. 

"That's very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan, and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges." Damon responds taking a sip of wine. 

"The deal sounds fair brother." Elijah says and looks at his brother. 

"I also agree Nik, maybe it is best if we leave Mystic Falls behind this time for good?" I suggested. 

"I don't think any of you understand. Elena's doppelganger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind." Nik starts as he gets up from his chair and paces around the dinning room, I looked at the Salvatore's and then Elijah and then cautiously got up from my own chair and made my way over to Niklaus. 

"Brother please calm yourself." I said quietly trying to calm him down. 

"Let's say I do leave her here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns her into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she dies caught between your feuding? You see, each one of you truly believes that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert is...the two of you." He finished. 

Damon gave a weak smile to Elijah and myself before getting up from his occupied seat. "I'm going to get some air." He says leaving the room. 

"Let me deal with this." Elijah says to his brother. 

"Do you wish for some fresh air my dear?" Elijah asked me. 

"Please." I replied to him and made my way to Elijah. 

"Why don't you both try and come to some sort of arrangement without killing each other?" I suggested to Niklaus and Stefan, and joined Damon outside.

"So oh so noble one, what's the plan?" Damon asked Elijah. 

"Plain and simple Damon we win Klaus' trust we do as he asked, continue to play the charade that we have all played a part in." I said to Damon. 

"So your the one calling the shots?" Damon asked raising an eyebrow. 

"We all have our reasons for wanting to get back at Klaus, I've had time to think and to...plot" I replied. 

"You sound a lot like him you sure your on our side?" Damon started. 

"I assure you Damon, Elizabeth's intentions will always be honorable don't ever forget that." Elijah warned the younger vampire stepping closer to him. 

"Now shall we?" Elijah asks Damon gesturing towards the door.

"What do you say, Klaus? It's time for you to put something on the table. We've made our offer, now you counter." Damon asks as we all re-entered the dinning room.

"Okay. I offer Elena's future happiness. You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot. And to fall in love with a human, maybe that nice football player, you know the blonde one?" Nik replies. 

"Matt Donovan??" Damon and I say together. 

"Yeah, why not? They'll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family." Nik replies with a smile. 

"And continue the Petrova bloodline. Every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelganger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right Klaus?" Stefan interrupter shaking his head. 

"Consider it a small return on my investment in her well-being. See, after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life. You know it's what's best for her." Nik says to him as he gets up from his seat to walk towards Stefan. 

"So, what do you say Stefan, hmm? Do we have a deal?" Nik speaks again sounding hopeful. Stefan who was stood up already headed towards my brother in law, myself Elijah and Damon stood slightly away from the two vampires held our breathes. Niklaus holds his hand out for Stefan to shake, he grabs it. 

"Nice try, Klaus. But no deal." Stefan replies. Suddenly Niklaus breaks Stefan's arm he yells out in pain, he then kicks one of his legs which instantly breaks he falls to one knee and Nik grabs the broken arm and forces it into the nearby fire place which was roaring ablaze. Stefan screams in pain as his hand burned in the fire. Damon attempted to rush over to try and help his brother but Elijah intercepts and stops him. 

"What are you doing?" Damon hisses at my husband. 

"Wait." I hissed back as Nik continues to hold Stefan's hand in the fire by the sight and smell of burning flesh I could tell it was bad. 

"Stop!" Damon shouts. 

"Niklaus that’s enough!" I shouted. 

"Now, bring me my coffin before I burn him alive!" Niklaus demanded. 

"I'll get it." Damon says. 

"Go with him, brother. You keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you and I will hand over our family." Nik adds. Elijah bowed his head slightly and turns to leave with Damon and myself.

We headed into one of the lower rooms of the house and Elijah opened up the coffins that belonged to my family. "The plan?" Damon asks growing irritated. 

"I shall un-dagger my siblings, Elizabeth would you please return to Niklaus while we wrap things up here." Elijah asks me. 

"Of course, my pleasure." I replied planting a kiss to his cheek and headed back to Niklaus and Stefan. 

"Niklaus enough with the fire cinematic's." I shouted as I pushed him away from Stefan and helped him to his feet. 

"Are you ok?" I asked he nodded and got back up to his feet. 

"You really have given up, haven't you? Where's the fight? Where's the Ripper?" Nik spats trying to itch closer to the younger Salvatore. I heard several different sets of footsteps and a smile plastered my face. 

"Whats with you?" Nik asks me looking confused. He turns to see Elijah, Damon and Marla to whom was holding a silver tray. 

"Elijah...why haven't you left?" Nik asks. 

"Where are you manners, brother? We forgot dessert." He replied as he lifts the cloche from the tray to reveal two silver daggers. 

"What have you done?" Nik asks gritting his teeth. "What have you done? You see, I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We're doing this on my terms now." Elijah spats. I returned to Elijah's side happy with the outcome of what was happening. 

"You've taken away our family for the last time Niklaus it ends today!" I added to my husbands remark.

Seeing Nik trying to apprehend what was happening more chaos entered the room and by more chaos I mean the one and only Kol Mikaelson. 

"Kol." Nik states. 

"Long time no see brother." He says stepping towards his younger brother. Nik starts to step backwards but Finn suddenly appears grabs one of the daggers from the tray and then stabs him in the hand. 

"Finn, don't!" Nik begs. He then rushes backwards but bumps into his only true sister. 

"Rebekah!" He shouts sounding slightly shocked. She then stabs him with the dagger. 

"This is for our mother." She shouts. As Rebekah pulls out the dagger, Finn and Kol restrain and pin their brother down. Elijah turns to Stefan and Damon. 

"This is family business, your free to go." He states. 

I turned to usher Stefan and Damon to the front door. "Thank you for a lovely evening gentlemen, hope to see you again soon boys." I said with a giggle. 

"Are you sure your going to alright?" Damon asks. 

"Oh please, I'll be more then fine Damon this will be the highlight of the evening. Be sure to get the coffin back. We will speak later." I replied and closed the door and headed back inside to my family. 

As Rebekah was roaming around one of the rooms she picks up a vase and looks at the detailing. "I love what you've done with the place Nik." She says sarcastically throwing the vase full force at a wall it smashes into a million pieces. 

"I wanted it to be for all of us. A place we could all call home. A place we could all be a family. None of us would ever have to be alone again." Nik stutters. 

"Well you're right, none of us will be." Elijah says stepping forward. 

"Your staying behind." Finn announces. 

"We're leaving you, Nik. Right after I kill that doppelganger wench, then you will be alone. Always and forever." Rebekah adds. 

"It's your turn to be alone after you have made each of us suffer." I finished. 

"If you run, I will hunt all of you down." Nik spats. 

"Go for it!" I growled heading towards my brother in law, his eyes glowed a yellow while mine glowed red, this time I didn't back down I felt no longer frightened. 

"Then you'll become everything you hate. Our father." Elijah says to break the tension, gently rubbing my arm to calm my temper. 

"I'm the hybrid! I can't be killed! I have nothing to fear from any of you." Nik shouts his voice echoed throughout the house. 

"You will when we have that coffin." Elijah shouts back. Suddenly we all here the front door of the mansion open, the entire family turned to see who was at the door and to all our shock. 

"Mother?" Rebekah gasped. 

"Look at me! Do you know why I'm here?" Esther commanded. 

With tears forming in his eyes. "Your here to kill me." He struggled. 

"Niklaus, you are my son and I am here to forgive you. I want us to be a family again." She says looking around at each of us her eyes landed on me and Elijah and for the first time ever I stood face to face for the first time with my mother in law and I had no idea how I felt but yet I felt the pure power that irradiated from her body. 

The original witch. 

The only emotion I felt was...Shock.

[oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch]

“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” Movie Review

Back on Oscar nomination day in 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 5 nominees for the Best Animated Feature of the year, and while that list included some crowd favorites like Big Hero 6 and more mature blockbusters like How to Train Your Dragon 2, the largest story that day wasn’t about any of the nominations, but one film that was left out of them. Most pundits and basically any critic who had seen the brilliantly creative, immensely funny, and more-emotionally-affecting-than-it-had-any-right-to-be Lego Movie had it pegged as not only a surefire nominee, but surefire winner of that award, and our jaws were left hanging on the floor at the lack of its mention during the announcement.

Despite that though, The Lego Movie went on to be an animated hit in the homes of people all across the world, two mildly-to-wildly successful spinoffs were launched to critical praise, and the studio immediately began plans for a sequel, with directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller not returning to the project as they were already booked to direct the Solo movie for Lucasfilm (which they were fired from, and then they moved on to Into the Spider-Verse and we all saw how that shook out). Thus, we have The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which finds Emmet and the rest of the Lego people 5 years removed from the ending of that first film. Bricksburg has been ravaged and destroyed by the toys of DuPlon, and our heroes now live in Apocalypseburg. But when some of the residents are captured by a mysterious new character from the Sistar system, Emmet must embark on a daring new mission to rescue his friends and prove that he truly is The Special.

I’ve made it no small secret that I love The Lego Movie and thoroughly enjoyed Lego Batman. Lego Ninjago was…fine for me, but I mostly chalked that up to it being very much tied into the popular children’s Ninjago series, which I hadn’t watched. With the direct sequel to the film that birthed them all being not only released but also set 5 years after the original, I was curious to see if the team at Warner Bros. would be able to pull off the same magnificent feat they did in 2014, especially without the direction of Lord & Miller. And, for the most part, they almost do. Much like How to Train Your Dragon 3, I thought Lego Movie 2 was pretty good – just not as good as those initial outings. While there are certainly moments of levity and plenty of jokes from a script by Lord & Miller, something did feel missing in its direction and pacing.

For a start, there are too many musical numbers in this movie. That may seem like a strange thing to say about a Lego movie, especially as a critique to start with over something more significant, but that’s exactly my point. It doesn’t make much sense until one realizes that the studio fell so in love with what worked in the original that they just decided to do that again – but a lot more. Sure, the original film this one is following had an iconic original theme song, and even Lego Batman dabbled a bit in the introduction, but Lego movies are not musicals. Even Tiffany Haddish (who can’t sing very well, as we find out) gets no less than two numbers essentially all to herself, and basically all of them take place in the second act. This not only overcrowds the movie as a whole, but the second act is simply too repetitive. On a story level, that means there’s less time devoted to moving it along rather than just using the same jokes for a little while longer than necessary. They’re not bad jokes, and some of them are actually quite funny, but that zippiness that was so profound in the original film is missing here, giving way to a slightly more elementary-style humor, which follows, considering the director they found to replace Lord & Miller is Mike Mitchell, director of Trolls.

Not only is the second act overly repetitive and reliant on the same jokes, the newer characters added to the franchise aren’t exactly super memorable. None of them leave the lasting impact that a character like a Lego Batman did on the first movie, and there are basically zero interesting cameos throughout (save for one that actually does turn into a pretty hilarious real-world reference joke during the third act). General Mayhem seems to be the stand-in for the Batman character this time around, but apart from capturing the main heroes and transporting them to the Sistar system, there’s really not much else to her until the final couple of minutes and she doesn’t help craft other characters’ development like Batman did for Lucy. In addition to this, the villain this time around (whose name I’m not even going to attempt to type since I’m writing this at almost 2:00 in the morning) might be a more intimidating presence than Lord Business, but she’s not exactly as or more compelling.

One of the things that made Lord Business compelling was his tie-in to the real world that informed the surprise reveal at the end of the original Lego Movie, but while the added-on real-world element to this entry in the series presents a beautiful intent with its message, the actual Lego sections don’t handle telling that message quite as clearly as the first one did its central themes, which makes understanding the villain character in The Second Part more difficult than it honestly should be. Most of the supporting cast that are introduced in this movie aren’t very memorable, which doesn’t bode well for a franchise plan. Even though the Rex Dangervest storyline does go to some pretty ambitious places, he remains sort of a watered-down version of what he’s probably meant to be, and a lot of that is wrapped up in his very convoluted storyline.

Even the animation seems to have taken a bit of a hit; in the original movie, it was made fairly obvious that everything was made of legos, and that was a super cool and innovative way to create an animated movie, but when this sequel gets busy in the Sistar system or with characters not from the Lego world, it becomes difficult to get very invested in the animation, as it no longer carries that particularly unique look. If we’re going to continue to get Lego movies in this vein for a while, spending more time outside of the Lego world than in it is a bad idea. Legos are fun! Spending time in the Lego world should take up the majority of a movie in this franchise, not a minority.

There is a fair amount to like about this movie though; pretty much all the original characters carry the same weight and charm they have since 5 years ago, and the story and themes this movie presents in conjunction with the last one are actually very sweet. Some of the music is actually quite catchy as well, and The Lonely Island come back again with a stellar closing credits sequence. While the direction could have used quite a bit of work, the script by Lord & Miller does what it can to keep the franchise fresh and new, and if nothing else, most of the jokes are funny on first arrival.

It may sound like I’m knocking on this movie too much, but much like How to Train Your Dragon 3 (the superior film between these two, if you’re wondering), I did enjoy it – I just find it to be a bit disappointing as a sequel. That’s the tough part about being a film critic; if you’re reviewing a sequel, talking about the stuff that worked again isn’t nearly interesting as what doesn’t work as well this time around or what works better because that sticks out more, which can make it sound like that’s all you think of the film. With Lego Movie 2, that means telling you that while what worked last time mostly works again this time, there are a few spots that don’t work as well, and that’s okay, if a little bit of a bummer.

“I’m giving The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” a 7.6/10

[charmsoloved]

i dont dare title this entry because i'm not really sure what to make of it. i keep coming back here and coming to clarity and each day i never apply what i've learned or discovered about myself.

i think about dying often. usually it is a ploy to get someone to pay attention but honestly, i do. whats the point of working to live? whats the point if things never work out in the end anyways?

it's grim but i'm fucking frustrated. why'd i have to be such a fuckup? why did i have to be the one who seemingly ruins every good thing she's had going for her?

why did i ever meet him? why'd i meet the last one? each time i meet someone, i just want to be this figure in their life that they can depend on. that they can cling to when times are rough. but then i overstay my welcome. i earn their love and then when it's not enough, i pick and pull at the smallest shit and in turn i push them farther and farther away.

everything around me feels absolutely disgusting. like i can't get control of it. my eating is out of control. i cant even bring myself to wash my fucking car. the laundry is piled up. i'm out of toilet paper, groceries, and almost all my personal care items. my tire blew out this week and now i'm paranoid so that means i have to replace both back tires cause i dont want it to happen again and with my luck lately, it will.

i dont understand myself. i dont understand why i do this to myself, why i do this to others. i'm having a hard time understanding what the fuck i'm even supposed to be on this earth for? i mean yeah, i was able to be someone's daughter and friend. but you know what? my friends will find new friends. people get over things. they move on. they'll be fine.

me though, i've always had a hard time letting go. i recently just actively started throwing shit away from the adrian era. i hold onto things and memories because those can't leave me. i hang onto alcohol because for those few minutes after the first drink, i feel like i can see clearly and that all my troubles are small and grains of sand.

i dont think i've ever felt connected to myself. i've never known who i truly am and i've always looked for my identity in others. i honestly dont think i've grew at all in the last 5 years. but then again, when i really think about my track record... did i ever grow up? immediately when i feel a titch of rejection or losing someone i love, i go to drastic measures to keep them. even if it means sacraficing myself for them. or it means i attempt to run into the arms of others so they pity me when in reality, it's all my fucking fault.

i'm tired. so fucking tired. i dont see the point of continuing. i don't see the point of growing and moving when all that happens is disappointment. i dont understand it. why let me hold the thing in my hand if i wasnt ready for it anyways? and what makes me not fucking ready??? like why can't i do it? why can't it be me?

why am i in a rush anyways? why do i always feel the need to continue to grow up? why am i always such in a hurry to get to the next destination? to mark another item off my list? all day i've had lists of things i need and need to do running through my head. i literally can't stop thinking about how if i got all those things done, then i'd feel some kind of worth. i praise myself for doing the little things but i beat myself over the head with a bat over the things i didnt do and then it makes me more depressed that i let it take over me like that and then i still dont do anything at all cause i justify in my head that whatever i am doing in that moment - i need it. i deserve it. but i really don't deserve anything good after the life and lies i've lived and done.

this is my karma. losing my best friend since 2nd grade is my karma. losing the love of my life after being teased with marriage is my karma. not having a baby yet is my karma. not financially making it is my karma. it's what i deserve. i really didnt deserve kazi and i'm really not sure of his purpose anymore. for the past few weeks i've been saying how i wish i never met him but really i wish that so i didn't have to see him this hurt all over again by the person he thought was his forever. i dont understand any of this and i'm not sure i ever will.

i wish i just knew how to let go. how to be rid of every cycling thought inside my damn head. i just wish i knew how to quiet the noise. i've tried praying and in those moments i do feel jesus, i do. but when does this load ever lighten? or when will i see the purpose of all this so i can feel just slightly relieved that it's all worth it. because right now, it's not worth it. nothing i've done has been worth it. nothing of chasing this lifestyle i've wanted for so long has served me. and even when i turn to god, it just crumbles even more.

what is bothering me so much inside that i can't just simmer the fuck down? what is boiling my blood so hot that i explode on the people closest to me? why does this hurt so motherfucking bad? i dont want to do it anymore. i want it to end. i want the pain to be gone because i honestly cant handle another second.

today is his birthday. and we aren't together. i've crushed everything with my own hands. i've ruined his hands. i've been such a terrible person and future wife that i dont blame him for wanting nothing to do with me. i dont blame him for wanting to get out of here and move on with his life. i dont blame him at all.

i blame myself. i mean, how much does someone have to grow to know they've gotten better? what does someone possibly have to do? how do you even measure any of this?

how do i know he will come back to me? how do i know that his can be fixed? do i dare even put my faith into something that will shatter all over again? what was the point of meeting him if this was going to be the outcome?

i'm supposed to be by his side as his wife of 2 weeks today and instead, i'm home alone with the cat because my presence isn't welcome in his right now. or levi's.

i just want it to end. i'm tired.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

"Keith!" 

Slamming his bloody hands down against the castle wall, Keith didn't even head Shiro yelling his name. He was so angry and hurt that all he felt was pain, and the pain felt good. It felt real. It felt solid and it was what he needed. As far as he could remember, he and Lance had never fought like that, even before they were together. They'd never fought in a way that cut so deep. Even a knife to the heart would hurt less

"Keith, stop!"

Before his hands could hit the wall again, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and hefted him on his feet. Snarling and scratching at his captors arms, his heart was pounding so hard and loudly his head throbbed in response

"Krolia, help me with him"

"Let me go!"

"Keith"

"Let me the fuck go!"

As his bloody hands slipped from Shiro's arm, his mother grabbed his wrists. Howling in anger, he kicked out, hitting her in the stomach, but failing to dislodge her. If anything, her grip tightened

"Keith! Calm down!"

"Get off of me!"

"Krolia..."

"Don't let him go"

"I said get off!"

"What do we do? Do we get Lance?"

Lance. Yeah right. Like he would care. For some reason the thought of Lance caring was just about the funniest thing in the universe. Laughter bubbled up, and fell from his lips in a half twisted screech 

"You think Lance cares? Lance and I are over!"

"Keith, what do you mean? What happened?!"

"He wants to die! He never gave a shit about me or our kids! He just wants to fucking die!"

"That's not true..."

"Then why did fuck Lotor? Why did he fuck Shiro? You're the one who told me about it?! Why mum?! If he loved me..."

The crack that sounded as his mother slapped his face left him stunned. Spitting the blood from his mouth, he snarled at the woman

"He's the one who tried to break our bond. Guess what mum? Your son's a fucking failure! I couldn't even keep my own fated omega from wanting to fuck everyone else!"

"Keith, calm down. I'm sure there's an explanation"

"Yeah. That he never wanted me to begin with. He tried to tell me and I never fucking listened!"

"Shiro, get him out of here. I don't care where you take him. Keith, I am so beyond disappointed in you right now"

"Good! Walk away! Walk away and forget me like you did before! I never meant anything to you! I never meant anything to anyone"

Releasing her hold on his wrist, Krolia looked him up and down

"You need to cool your head before you say or do something you regret!"

"I regret ever being born!"

Shiro's arm tightened around his waist, the alpha beginning to walk down the hall. Even with one arm, he couldn't compete with the crushing hold around his waist. But at least it was pain, and pain was better than nothing at all.

 Carrying him into the training hall, Shiro threw him down on the mats. Pushing himself up, he launched himself at the alpha 

"When did you become her dog?"

Clumsy from blood loss and fatigue, the punch he threw at Shiro was easily dodge, and returned with a knee to his gut. Dropping to the floor, he coughed as his fingers tried to find purchase 

"Get up!"

"Fuck off!"

"Get up Keith!"

Looking up at Shiro, he spat towards him

"You've always liked looking down on us. Haven't you? Always acting like you're so much better than the rest of us"

Pushing himself up, he rolled his neck slowly as he shook his hands

"I'm so sick of you"

"At the moment, the feelings mutual"

Lashing out again, he roundhouse kicked Shiro as hard as he could. Catching his leg, Shiro flipped him, and Keith ended up face first on the mats again

"Get up Keith!"

"Why? You've already taken everything from me!"

"What? What have I taken from you? Lance? At the moment you aren't even fit to lick his shoes"

Scrambling up, he kept his stance low as he drove his shoulder into Shiro, sending them both toppling onto the floor

"How dare you say his name!? He's my mate!"

"Then why aren't you with him? Do you know how lonely he was without you? But you couldn't even call him! You didn't even help him with your own son's"

"He didn't want me!"

"Of course he did! You know Lance! He tries his hardest until he falls apart, but you know, he did so well when you were gone. He was eating, and dancing and smiling. Maybe you can't make him happy"

Grabbing Shiro by the collar, Keith straddled his lap. Lifting Shiro up, he slammed him down to the floor, over and over

"You stay the fuck away from him! You can't make him happy!"

"Of course I can't! You're the one he's in love with! You're the one he's been in love with since before he even admitted he was an omega! But all you did was kick him down. Then bam. He presented and suddenly he was your everything! Every time he chased after you, you had nothing nice to say, but he kept trying. That's what he does! And if he's picked a fight with you, then you know he's gotta have a quiznakking good reason for it!"

Releasing his hold on Shiro's collar, the alpha dropped to the floor with a groan 

"He wants to die"

"It's been a long time since Lance has wanted to die"

"He has a plan to save Pidge, but it means putting his own life at risk..."

Keith's anger dropped away, tears from and raced down his face. With a mournful howl he slid from Shiro's lap, so he kneeling beside him. Covering his face with his bloodied hands, he screamed into them. He didn't want Lance to die. He wanted his happy beautiful mate by his side. Climbing up from the floor, Shiro wrapped his arm around him, guiding him against his chest. It'd been so long that Keith had forgotten what it'd been like to be friends with Shiro. Rubbing his shoulder, Shiro buried his face in Keith's hair 

"It's just a plan. It's not reality. We're not going to do anything until we've all talked about it. Now, have you calmed down enough for me to look at your hands?"

"They're fine"

"They're bleeding"

"It's fine. I deserve this"

"I doubt Lance would be happy that you think that"

"You don't know what was said"

"No I don't. I know you still don't like me for what happened, but you can at least let me clean your hands up. You can't see Lance like this"

Sniffling, Keith nodded. He needed to see Lance and apologise. Even if his omega didn't want him anymore, he had to make sure he knew he was sorry.

 With both his hands cleaned up, Keith eyes his bruised and swollen knuckles. He was definitely going to be feeling it once the adrenaline coursing through him faded. It was a disgusting mess, and one he still felt he deserved. Shiro had wanted to bandage them, but he wouldn't let him. Some part of him still wanted Lance to know how much he'd hurt him, and his alpha was in complete agreement. Letting Shiro lead the way, they'd made their way to the kitchen. He didn't particularly want to see anyone, and being this close to Shiro was messing with his head. Keith honestly just wanted to find Lance, apologise and then take a long ride in Black, but that wasn't his things were going to play out.

 Entering the kitchen, Allura, Hunk and his mother was there. He couldn't deny he didn't feel both disappointed and relieved at Lance's absence 

"Have you cooled down?"

Nodding at his mother, he wrapped his arms around his waist in a very Lance way

"Good. Now come have something to eat. Allura and Hunk have been telling me about this plan Lance came up with"

"Where..."

Clearing his throat, Keith tried to rid the softness from his voice 

"Where's Lance?"

"He's in the games room with the pups. I'm making him something to eat when he wakes up"

Looking to the door, it was so tempting to flee 

"Keith, Lance told us about his plan. I know you don't like it, but if we figure out the finer details, we might be able to help Pidge"

"Did he tell you he's fine with dying?"

His tone was dripping with bitterness

"Keith, Lance doesn't want to die"

"You could have fooled me"

"He said so himself. He wants to live. He wants to be with you and the pups. Now sit down before you fall down"

Crossing to the empty stool, Keith sank down. Taking his hand, his mother laid it flat on the counter in front of them

"They're not as bad as I expected"

"I deserve it"

"Perhaps"

"I'll get you some ice for them"

"It's fine Allura. Let's just talk about what we're going to do"

"Hunk, Krolia and I have all been scanned for signs of infection, we're clean"

"That's something..."

"And as Lance was with you, you're both more than likely to be clean which means we just need to check Coran and Shiro"

"And then what?"

"We call Lotor. Even if he loans us a sample of pure quintessence, we should be able to lure the black goop from Pidge"

"How do we trap it?"

"We know Honerva trapped it before, using Altean technology..."

"She's not exactly going to help us"

"I know you don't want to hear it, but Lance did have a point. He has the  strongest Bayard of all us"

"I know he does. I also know he's likely to take a risk, even if there's a chance it won't pan out. I didn't mean to make it seem like Pidge isn't important, but we do need to think about everyone on this castle. Especially since we don't know what exactly caused the infection"

"See. That's all you had to say. You don't have to be so angry"

Shooting his mother a glare, he looked back down at his hand

"So we contact Lotor and get the sample. We also need to take the castle offworld so we don't risk the Olkari..."

"I can stay behind with the sample..."

"No you cant Allura. You're the only one who can fly the castle"

"Then I will"

"Mum..."

"No, I'm Galra. Even if I'm infected, I should be able to withstand long enough to notify you"

"How do we get Pidge out the pod and to the quintessence without putting anyone in danger"

Humming, Hunk suddenly slammed his hands down 

"Hunk?!"

"Pidge was rebuilding a sentry, or even better, if Lotor will lend us one, we don't need anyone physically on the castle. We get the sentry to handle the pure quintessence"

"We don't know what will happen to its systems. They might be overloaded by the power of the quintessence"

"If we use the container the quintessence is in, it won't even have to touch it. Or we can attach it to the sentry and have it move through the ship. If we can get it to the airlock, we can just flush it into space and destroy it out there with Voltron"

"Hunk, how confident are you with your reprogramming skills?"

"I'm not as good as Pidge, but with Matt's help..."

"So it comes down to Lotor..."

"He owes us a favour. If it wasn't for Lance, he'd still be stuck down in that rift with Shiro"

"Thanks"

"I didn't mean anything by it..."

"Lance said he felt like this would work. It was his "feeling" that lead us to Shiro and Lotor... I think we need to trust in this plan of his"

Keith swallowed as he nodded

"If someone has to stay behind, I'll do it. It's my job as the Black Paladin to protect our team"

"I could..."

"Shiro, you only have one arm. What happens if you need both of them?"

Snorting, Shiro shook his head 

"I still beat you with one arm, and you were verging on going feral"

"Keith, Buddy, you need to stop going feral when it comes to Lance"

"I can't help it. You know what was said"

"I do. And you both had valid points, and I know he was trying to push you away, but that doesn't make it ok"

"Do you think he's ok?"

"I think he's asleep, and I think if you wake him, it's not going to be pretty"

"He's going to yell at me again?"

"I'm going to yell at you"

"Allura, you and Shiro contact Lotor. Remind him about the rift if you have to. Mum, can I trust you to take a look at them work Pidge was doing without getting infected?"

"I don't plan on dying any time soon"

"I'll take that as a yes. Hunk..."

"Hunk will be here figuring out what to do with all these cookies"

"Thanks. I'm going to check in on Lance, and then Shiro, Coran and I will meet in the medical bay for our scans. Once they've come back clean, we'll send message to Matt, as well as to Ryner and inform her of what's happening here..."

"Don't forget dinner is mandatory"

"And it can wait until we've left Olkarion..."

"Keith... you can't mess with my food, man"

"I'm not messing with your food, I'm just delaying dinner a few vargas so we can get everything organised"

"Hunk, just call us when dinner is ready"

"Will do, Shiro"

 Parting from the others, Keith headed down to the games room alone. His mother had forced to him eat before letting him off, and the meal of cookies wasn't sitting well in his stomach. As the alpha walked, he tried to play out all the different conversations. Lance didn't want him to let him go, even if he had to yell at him, but yelling in front of the pups... he could not do that again. It was horrible and they didn't deserve to hear it.

 The door to the games room appeared far too soon for Keith's liking. The feeling in his stomach had only gotten worse and now it felt a thousand butterflies were trapped inside. One or two butterflies he could handle. When Lance laughed or smiled genuinely, they always seemed to pop up, but this... this wasn't a nice feeling at all. Placing his hand on the door pad, he nearly let out a laugh as the door opened, and the first thing he heard was a long snore. Lance was sleeping. He didn't have to worry about what he was going to say, because his mate was asleep and he was too much of a coward to wake him. Walking over to the bed, he sank down on the edge, examining Lance's sleeping face. He was pale, and exhausted, but there was a smile on his lips... one Keith chose to believe was for him. Letting his eyes roam his omegas form, he found Lance's jacket had hiked up to expose his hip and part of his snail trail. Reaching out, his fingers hovered over Lance's hip, before he finally shook his head, and pulled his mates jacket down for him. Even if he wanted to touch Lance, Lance probably didn't feel the same way anymore. With a heavy heart, he rose to his feet, gathering up as the closest blanket as he did. Laying it over Lance, he made sure his mates shoulders were covered, before finally crumbling slightly. Running his fingers over Lance's soft brown hair, he smiled at the running joke it'd become between them. They still hadn't cut each other's hair, and Lance's had hit they awkward not long, but too long to call short stage. Nuzzling his pillow in his sleep, Lance let out a sleepy huff

"Keith..."

It was like Keith had been shocked. Yanking his hand back, he stumbled away from the bed before fleeing. He wasn't ready to talk to Lance...

  *

Having carried out his duties, Keith left Allura and Hunk in the Kitchen. Lotor had agreed to help, but only because his soldiers were dropping like flies. The emperor had used much more graceful language, almost managing to make it sound like he actually cared about them. With everyone except Pidge having come back clear, Keith now found himself stuck waiting and it didn't sit well with him. He could go back to Lance, but that ran the risk of waking his mate. He didn't want to hear the words he was sure Lance would say, "It's over", two tiny words with so much weight behind them. Lance was supposed to be his for the rest of their lives, and a few doboshes of anger had ruined everything they'd built together. The morning had been so amazing, so how had they ended up like this... yes, once again, he was back to that. The fact that when Lance had woken up, it had been just them. Just Lance and Keith. Omega and Alpha. Not mum and dad, or Black and Red Paladin's. Just the two of them in their own little world. With a jumble of feelings and no real outlet, he headed to the training room. Even if he couldn't grip a blade or a gun, he could still work out... or just wander around aimlessly until he fell down from exhaustion.

 Keith was doing just that when the door to the training room opened, and a sobbing Allura rushed inside. In her arms were one of the pups... Why did Allura have him?! And why was she crying. Striding straight up to him, Allura was trembling badly as she tried to wipe the tears away with her left hand 

"Allura?"

"Keith, you should take him"

Half offering and half placing the pup in his arm, the screaming boy finally started to settle. It was really kind of hard to tell who was more upset 

"Allura, it's ok. Babies cry"

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, but Keith caught a whiff of Lance's scent. His mate... his mate was devastated? No... it was more than that

"Allura, what happened?"

"I'm so sorry Keith..."

Grabbing her shoulder, his fingers dug into her suit

"Allura. Tell me what happened? What happened to Lance?"

"It's... it's not Lance. It's Kelance"

Snarling, he leant right in

"What happened to my son?"

"He's... he's infected"

Stumbling backwards, Keith sank down around Laneith as he tried to remember how to breathe. Kelance was infected? How? Why?

"Keith. Keith, he's alive. Lance seems to be ok, but they're putting Kelance in a pod"

"What do you mean Lance is ok?"

How could Lance be ok, when their son was dying?

"He doesn't seem to be infected"

"Where is he?"

Allura stared down at him

"Where is he?!"

Allura squeaked as he snapped at her

"In the pod room..."

"Get the castle off of Olkarion"

"Keith?"

"Get it off! I'm going to check on Lance"

"You can't... he might be carrying the black goop. He doesn't want Laneith near him"

He didn't want his own son? Was that just because of the infection or because he regretted giving birth to them? His anger and fear was robbing him of rational thought

"He's my mate!"

"Exactly! He's been with the pups. He could have been infected, and for all we know, Laneith might have too. The pups are always together, so we need to scan Laneith"

Cradling his son closer, Keith nuzzled into his chubby cheek. He felt physically sick knowing Laneith might... might die

"Right. Right... ok. Keith, is it safe to help you up, because I can feel the anger coming from you"

"I... just... let's get to the medical bay"

 Laneith really didn't like being scanned. His pup wriggled as he cried, as if trying to escape the small amount of warmth from the machine

"Keith, there's no sign of infection. I think Laneith is alright"

"Allura..."

"Look for yourself. He looks perfectly... human. I mean, if I'm reading these scans right, it's hard to tell because I only have experience really with full sized humans, and he's so tiny. I'm really sorry, I don't know why I am not able to be quiet"

"Allura, it's called relief. You're not able to be quiet because of your relief. Turn the machine off, I don't think he likes it too much"

Pulling Laneith's shirt over his chubby belly, Keith lifted him back into his hold. He was beyond relieved Laneith was alright, but Lance still needed to be scanned, and they still needed to save Kelance and Pidge... and maybe even Lance 

"I've got you. Shhh, it's alright now. Daddy's here"

"Do you think he's hungry? Is that why he's crying?"

"That would probably be part of it. He needs a nappy change too"

"The formula's in the cupboards. Shall I get it?"

"And the bottles. They need to be clean before we make the formula up. And nappies, I think there were some hidden away in here"

Would Laneith even take formula? They'd tried it before with no success, but maybe because he was older now?

"Lance insisted on keeping nappies in here, he made sure everything was stocked in case of an emergency"

Of course his mate did. Lance was an amazing mother, even on his bad days.

 From the medical room, they headed up to the Kitchen. Allura hovering as Keith went about changing Laneith. His son was somewhat calmer once his nappy had been changed, but even if his cries had quietened, he was definitely not happy

"You miss your brother and your mum, I know. I miss them too..."

"Keith, what can I do?"

"Can you sterilise the bottle and make the formula? The instructions are on the tin"

"I hope Hunk won't mind me using his kitchen"

"Allura, you're the queen. You own this castle. If anyone can use this kitchen without Hunk's supervision, it's you"

"Sometimes I forget"

How could you forget your the queen of an entire race!? Just because Allura was gentle and friendly to them all... and followed orders... ok, maybe he could see how it might on occasion slip her mind

"Allura... I don't know how to be a dad. Lance is so amazing at all of this. He's been amazing with the pups since he birthed them..."

Bustling through the kitchen, Keith could only stare down at Laneith 

"Keith, you're amazing too. You stayed with Lance as he birthed the pups, the first set of twins. You stayed with him, you held him as he cried and even though they were fathered by Shiro, you loved them like they were you own. You love your pups, and if you weren't a good dad, you wouldn't be worrying like this. You're a good person Keith. A good Paladin and a good partner to Lance. Try having some more faith in yourself"

"If only it was that easy. Lance never improved when he was with me. Yet a phoeb with Shiro and some how he's eating, sleeping and training. Maybe I shouldn't be his alpha..."

"If you keep this up, Shiro might just swoop in steal Lance away"

Keith growled at Allura's jab

"I'm joking. Lance was only trying so hard for you. Even if Shiro had feelings for Lance, it's Lance's choice and he chose you... I just put too much powder in the bottle?! Is that ok?"

"It should be fine... I don't see why not? We don't even know if he'll take it"

"Maybe we could put something sweet in it?"

"No, just the powder. Laneith, it's alright. Your Aunty Allura is making you a nice bottle right now"

Patting his son's back, Laneith's small fingers gripped his jacket. His heart skipped a beat. He couldn't imagine not having both boys, and Laneith... even if they were so tiny and ignorant to the world around them, Laneith was always with Kelance.

 Laneith really didn't like the bottle, his son firmly smooshing his lips together as Keith tried to feed him. Feeling like a failure, he tried to swallow down the lump of emotion in his throat. What was he going to do if Laneith wouldn't eat? 

"Please, you just have to try it. You'll like it, and I know you miss mummy, but you'll see him as soon as this is all over"

Still Laneith refused to take the bottle. Allura thought he could do this, but he couldn't

"Please Laneith... please, you need to eat?"

"Keith?"

Jerking his head up to look at Hunk, the alpha looked exhausted and concerned

"I... I can't get him to eat. What do I do?"

"Let me try"

Walking over to him, Hunk forced a smile as he lifted Laneith 

"Hello, I hear you're not eating"

"I thought perhaps we could sweeten the milk? Perhaps with that yellow bee syrup?"

"Allura, you can't give babies honey"

Taking the bottle from Keith, Hunk dripped a few drops of milk on his finger, before transferring it to another finger and placing that finger into Laneith's mouth as he went to cry out. Laneith's eyes widened in surprised before sucking on Hunk's finger

"How did you do that?"

"I borrowed Lance's baby book"

"Is... is Pidge?"

"No! No, no... no. I just wanted to know how to be a good uncle"

Hunk had probably read more of the book than he had. He'd read a few chapters, but for the most part, Lance would read out the paragraphs he found interesting, or point out diagrams with a bright red face. Squeezing a little more formula out, Hunk left it on the teat as he rubbed against Laneith's lips, until the pup finally began to drink. He didn't look impressed, but at least he was feeding. Sinking down, Keith let out a long breath

"Keith?"

"I was worried what to do if he didn't take the bottle"

"Well he is"

"Thank you Hunk. Just... thank you"

Hunk laughed, though it sounded slightly strained

"How's Lance?"

"Devastated. He doesn't know if he's infected, but Kelance definitely is. Is Laneith?"

"No. His scans were fine... I... I should go see Lance"

"You can't. He doesn't want anyone going near the pod room..."

"I can't leave him there, he's my mate"

"And he doesn't want anything happening to you or Laneith"

"What about clothes and food? And blankets?"

"Shiro's going to drop some at the pod room door for him"

"Shiro?"

"I ran into him in the hall on the way up. He's taken Coran with him"

It was Keith's job to look after Lance, not Coran

"I hope he doesn't take too long. Lance must be cold in his wet uniform"

"He stripped it off before I left. He's got his communicator though"

"That's good. He will be able to let us know if anything happens"

"Maybe I should go see him..."

"Keith, he doesn't want you to. Just focus on this plan and Laneith"

"Quiznak. Allura, did Lotor sign off?"

"Yes. He's suffered significant losses, and is loaning us a sample of the pure quintessence. He's agreed to meet with us two quintants out of Olkarion, in a section of space with nowhere the goop can go"

2 quintants? Seriously? Couldn't they just jump?

"It's the best he can do. With the rift collapsing in on its self, we can no longer open it. Quintessence has become a valuable commodity again"

"Great. You think they would have made the most of it while it was open"

"They couldn't get past the black goop..."

Keith resisted rolling his eyes at Allura. He knew full well that it was their fault the black entity was loose in the universe. Surely Pidge and Kelance being infected was karma for it.

  *

Unable to sleep, Keith rolled over. The space either side of him was too big, and too devoid of Lance. He hadn't even been able to apologise to his mate and he didn't like leaving things hanging like they were. Looking to Kelance's cot, he pushed himself up. Laneith had refused to settle when he'd placed him in his own cot, and it wasn't until he laid his son down in Kelance's that he'd finally slept. Careful not to be loud, Keith grabbed his communicator and Lance's favourite blanket, no longer caring if he was risking infection. He wanted to see Lance.

 The hallways of the castle were cold and empty as he made his way up to the pod room, though Keith had the feeling he was being watched, he didn't see a single soul. They'd all probably think him weak for not being able to sleep. It wasn't like Lance was on the other side of the universe, his mate was only floors above him. Pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders, he wished he'd at least bothered to put his boots on as his his feet were freezing.

 Arriving in front of the pod room, Keith took a deep breath before going to place his hand on the door pad panel, only instead of touching smooth glass, his hand met paper. Pulling his hand back, he half smiled at the note scrawled on the piece of paper in Lance's terrible handwriting

"Don't even think about it"

That was so Lance... thinking of everyone else and their welfare above his own. Readjusting his hold on the blanket again, Keith moved to sink down against the door, before knocking twice on it. It was only ticks before Lance called through to his communicator 

"Keith, was that you?"

"Maybe..."

"You're not supposed to be here"

"I know, but Lance... I didn't want to leave things like that"

"Keith, it was my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm sorry"

"That's not playing fair. I came up here to apologise to you"

"You don't need to apologise"

"Yes i do. Baby, I love you so much. I don't want what was between us to end like this. I don't want to break up like that"

"Keith... you're my husband. We're bound to fight"

Keith had forgotten that the word "husband" existed, Lance was his mate. His omega... and his husband

"I might be your husband, but I never should have yelled it at you"

"Do you regret it? Falling in love with me?"

"My life might have been easier if I hadn't, but no. I don't regret you, or the pups"

Lance paused before replying 

"How's Laneith?"

"We got him to take a bottle. Well Hunk did, and his scans came back clean"

"What about your scans?"

"I'm ok. Lance, you might not be infected"

"And I might. I touch that black stuff. Kelance's mouth was full of it"

"I have no idea how it happened... he shouldn't have been infected. Laneith isn't infected"

"I was thinking you might have been right"

"I usually am"

"Ha ha. I mean. Pidge was placed into a pod, and the pups were in a pod. Maybe it got into the castle?"

"We've left Olkarion, and we'll be meeting Lotor in a couple of quintants..."

"So you're going with my plan?"

"It seems like it. Everyone except you, me, Kelance and Pidge are going to leave"

"Keith, you can't stay"

"I'm not leaving you here alone"

There was a thud against the pod room door, causing Keith to jump 

"Was that you? Did you just kick the door?"

"No. I hit it. Don't laugh at me, I'm sitting with my back against it and I'm mad at you"

"I'm not laughing. I'm sitting with my back against the door too. It's the closest I can be to you"

"Now who's not playing fair?"

"Don't look at me"

"It's your fault"

"No, it's your fault. You're the one who married me and bonded with me"

"You're the only one out here who would have me"

"We both know that's not true. You're beautiful and funny and I... I love you"

"I love you too. So what else has been happening?"

"Nothing. I couldn't sleep so I came to see you"

"I'm ok... I just... I just can't leave him"

"I know you can't..."

But apparently he could. He could leave Laneith sleeping so he could sneak off to see Lance. Letting out a long yawn, Lance mumbled an apology 

"I'm sorry. I'm just really tired"

"Then get some rest baby. We can't do anything until we see Lotor"

"Will you stay with me? I mean, will you stay on the line?"

"Yeah baby. I'm your husband, right?"

"Mmmm. My alpha. I love you, Keith"

"I love you too, Lance"

[ladyloveandjustice]

The Great Ace Attorney Replay: Trials and Tribulations, Case 5, Part 5

I’m going to examine this garden gate as Phoenix specifically to get this dialogue.

Phoenix: “Edgeworth’s probably in the garden, crying softly to himself…I guess we should hug it out and talk about what he’s uncovered’

 I’m never getting over this like. Phoenix specifically imagining Miles “crying softly” and anticipating hugging. “I’M HERE TO HEAL UR PAIN EDGEWORTH”. Phoenix take it back a notch.

In we go to say hi to Miles who is still berating himself for passing out and Phoenix is like “oh my GOD why is it still bothering him” I FEEL YOU PHEEN.

 THEN MILES SEES HIM AND…literally runs away OH MY GOD MILES

Phoenix: “DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Miles: “WHAT ARE YOU HERE TO LAUGH AT ME? GO AHEAD! LAUGH!”

Oh god…I never noticed it the first time around but it’s literally a repeat of the scene between them when Phoenix came into defend Miles at the detention center. That’s beautiful. THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME. Miles is still a disaster. I wonder if this still happens even in their 30s. I bet it does. Not just over earthquakes and going to jail. This is what happens when Miles tries to make an awesome banquet for their anniversary and ends up burning the food. This exact exchange.

Actually it may have happened when they were younger too considering the first time, Phoenix warned Maya not to actually laugh when he says this because “It’s a trick. He’ll get mad when you laugh. Or burst into tears.” So did baby Miles run away, have to be dragged back and then yell this when Phoenix tried to comfort him over not being able to do origami back in the day? And then did he try to laugh like Miles asked because he thought it would help and this is what triggered the outbreak of sobbing? IT’S PRETTY MUCH CONFIRMED THAT THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED. IN MY HEART.

Phoenix: (SIGH, I WAS READY TO HUG IT OUT WITH HIM BUT HE’S THE SAME OLD PRIDEFUL EDGEWORTH)

Phoenix if u tell him you want to hug him I’m sure he’ll say yes cuz it’s you. Go for it.

OKAY MILES WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY BADGE.

Miles: “I never thought I’d see you wear one of these”

Phoenix: “It’s because of you I became one” 

WAY TO ESCALATE THIS CONVERSATION PHOENIX HE WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE SMALL TALK GIVE THE MAN A BREAK. 

CUE DRAMATIC ARM CLUTCH AND MILES HAVING A MINI SEIZURE AS HE TRIES TO DEAL WITH FEELINGS

Phoenix: “Not that I have any regrets. I really don’t.”

FEELING SEIZURE CONTINUES

Phoenix: if you’re trying to say “thanks “you can can say it a bit louder.

Honestly I can’t even handle them just kill me.

OOOOH I CAN PRESENT MIA’S PROFILE TO MILES WATCHA GONNA SAY

Miles: “One of the biggest names in the world of law as I’m sure you’ll agree”

NICE THINGS. He respects her! I’m so proud of you, Miles, you’ve come so far.

Miles: “For better or worse, we were only destined to meet once in courtroom”

Probably for better. You would have lost. And she would have had to put up with your brattiness more. Not a good time for either of you.

Phoenix: (I know. I read all about it).

Miles “It was the first time for both of us. Two novices head to head.”

THAT REMINDS ME DID U GO TO MIA’S GRAVE AND APOLOGIZE FOR THAT BIMBO REMARK BECAUSE IF NOT I DEMAND YOU DO.

Miles: I can still remember how downhearted I felt after that trial ended the way it did

Phoenix: (I wonder if Mia felt the same way, too).

Uhh Phoenix she literally wrote down that she did. That is was a wound in her soul that never healed or whatevs. Though I guess we don’t know if Mia wrote down the stuff Phoenix read. He could have just researched the case and all the narration we read was just Mia’s thoughts to herself rather than what she wrote down.

I’M GONNA PRESENT MAYA

Miles: “I don’t know her very well, but it seems like she’s always landing in trouble”

Phoenix: “You clearly know her better than you think.”

Miles: “I do sincerely hope she’s all right.”

Aww. Also, like you guys aren’t constantly landing in trouble too.

If I present Pearl Miles is like “SHE’S A CHILD I CANT TRY AND FORCE THINGS OUT OF HER. I’M NOT BEING MEAN TO A KID WRIGHT. YOU GET THE INFO SHE’LL TALK TO YOU” 

omg Miles. You know I always thought the whole “I’M WORRIED ABOUT THE DEFENSE TRAUMATIZING THIS CHILD” with Cody Hackins was just him being a dick as usual, but considering this dialogue it looks like that was genuine. 

Miles is very defensive of young children and paranoid about them being traumatized. That makes sense and is both adorable and sad.

Presenting Gumshoe means Miles mentions he took him out for pasta and Nick is like “WELL GOOD YOU OWE HIM THAT MUCH IT’S YOUR FAULT HIS SALARY IS SO LOW GIVE THE POOR GUY A RAISE JESUS.” 

Speaking the truth goddamn give it to him good Phoenix

I was thinking for a second investigation 2 causes a continuity error here bc he finally gives Gumshoe a raise in that but then I looked up the official Ace Attorney timeline that case takes place after this one.

All of Investigations takes place after this case and ends just before Phoenix gets disbarred (the last case of investigations 2 is literally 10 DAYS BEFORE IT HAPPENS…). Which makes sense bc if Miles had been gone for a year he wouldn’t have had time to be in spinoff games set in Japanifornia during that time. I have no idea why I thought investigations was set between game 2 and 3.

BUT I’M ALSO CONFUSED BECAUSE IF MILES HAS BEEN GONE FOR A YEAR HE CAN’T BE THE PERSON CUTTING GUMSHOE’S SALARY. Unless it was that way when he left and the new boss kept it the same. Either way, SHAME ON WHOEVER REPLACED MILES.

Miles have been going to trials in five different countries to learn how to be better at running them…and apparently learned all the languages.Phoenix is like “WHAT. HOW. IT’S TAKEN ME A LIFETIME TO SORT OF MASTER ONE LANGUAGE” I feel you Phoenix

If I try to show him evidence it’s all “I’m a prosecutor, I’m a defense attorney, we cannot discuss things so intimately” Miles he wasn’t asking to make out with you over the evidence, he genuinely wants your opinion.

Talking to Gumshoe, we find a bloody sword and Phoenix tells Gumshoe he doesn’t want to get it tested. Gumshoe realizes he’s terrified it’s Maya’s blood (and is going green at the thought). I FORGOT ABOUT THIS PART THIS IS SO SAD.

 Gumshoe reassures him and says she’s definitely okay and he’ll take him and Maya out for pasta when they find her. Awww Gumshoe I love ya. You really are better at knowing how to handle people’s feelings than anyone else in this bar. (And that being said, Phoenix should really tell him to go talk to Miles right now too. He is in need.).

Huh I forgot about this bit where Miles and Phoenix figure out how Dahlia is involved in all this together. I also completely forgot that Miles found out Dahlia was Phoenix’s ex and tried to kill him etc.

Phoenix mentions spirit channeling and Miles just flips out all like “SPIRIT CHANNELERS ARE FRAUDS THAT WOMAN ACCUSED AN INNOCENT MAN OF MURDER AND RUINED MY LIFE”

Did…he never figure out that it was his dad’s spirit who lied about the murder?APPARENTLY NOT.

and apparently he’s just willfully ignoring all those times Maya magically transformed into Mia RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. Like I know you tend to be hyper-focused on Phoenix in court but I cannot believe you wouldn’t notice sometimes Maya is a foot taller and busting open her kimono. HOW DO YOU RATIONALIZE THIS TO YOURSELF? WHERE IS THE ~LOGIC~ MILES?

I guess “my dad accused an innocent man to protect me” would be a leap Miles would be unwilling to make because it goes against his image of his dad as champion of the ~Truth~. Not to mention it would be pretty horrible to know your dad’s spirit is out there thinking you were the one that killed him. Miles is going to have a hard time with dealing with that. Phoenix seems to realize this because he just kind of pauses for a second and is like “you’ll understand someday, Edgeworth”.

 it WOULD be incredibly awkward and painful to just be say “UM NO EDGEWORTH SPIRIT CHANNELING IS REAL YOUR DAD JUST THOUGHT YOU KILLED HIM AND LIED TO THE MEDIUM TO PROTECT YOU FROM TRAUMA. WHICH DIDN’T WORK BUT WHATEVER”. Phoenix ain’t droppin’ that bomb on him.

TIME TO GO TALK TO IRIS…EXCEPT NOT REALLY. I think I remember what happened here, Iris and Maya-channeling-Dahlia switched places in the sacred cavern….

You can honestly tell she’s Dahlia if you pay attention to her dialogue- mostly when Phoenix messes up

Iris: I had hoped you would get at least this much correct. I hate seeing you mess up and getting all disappointed.

Phoenix: (Nngh... I didn't know she could be so harsh...)

And she also says “that’s no position for a lawyer to find himself in” if he stumbles another time. Dahlia’s gonna find a way to own Phoenix even if she has to pretend to be sweet, just gotta do it. 

Then of course when Phoenix says Dahlia “began relations with a certain college student in order to hide the evidence. That college student... Have you heard anything about him...?”

Iris:... Well... I did hear one thing... She said she hated his guts. :D

REALLY SUBTLE THERE DAHLIA. Awww Phoenix is so sad and she’s so cackling inside about it. She really is an excellent villain.

AND GUESS WHAT. I’D STILL RATHER TALK TO HER THAN GODOT.

 BUT NO HE HAS TO SHOW UP.

Agh it’s just like. Dahlia’s brand of evil is delicious and chilling- it’s fun to watch even if it’s horrible. She knows what she’s doing and she’s having fun with it.

MEANWHILE GODOT IS JUST OBNOXIOUS AND SELF RIGHTEOUS ABOUT HIS EVIL AND NOTHING IS FUN AGH.

ONCE AGAIN Godot’s all was “your job to protect them” re Mia and Maya.

 NO IT ISN’T. HIS JOB IS TO BE A LAWYER. BEING A 24/7 BODYGUARD TO EVERY WOMAN HE MEETS IS NOT THE CAREER HE WENT FOR.

MIA IS HIS BOSS. MAYA IS HIS FRIEND (WHO HE IS ALWAYS THERE FOR!). THEY ARE NOT HELPLESS LITTLE DOLLS HE’S SUPPOSED TO KEEP IN SOME GLASS CASE AND SHUT AWAY FROM THE WORLD.

Guess who’s going to lecture Phoenix because he, I don’t know, didn’t feel that Mia was being murdered with his Spidey-sense and then swing over at the speed of light to punch the murderer to death or whatever he was supposed to do? Godot, of course!

 Phoenix finally points out that HE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW MIA WAS IN DANGER OR WHAT SHE WAS UP TO HOW THE FUCK WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING. And Godot’s response is that “being oblivious is a crime.”

YEAH PHOENIX. HOW DARE YOU NOT KNOW THINGS PEOPLE DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT. A REAL MAN WOULD DEVELOP PSYCHIC POWERS.

Hey Godot you know what is actually a crime. Actually knowing people are in danger, not telling them they are, doing nothing to prevent it and actually making everything infinitely worse because you wanted to do some super-violent dashing rescue to soothe your own pathetic ego. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, riiiiight?

And then Godot is like “WHATEVER MAYA’S DEAD I HAVE DECIDED THIS SO IT MUST BE SO” right in front of Pearl oh my god I hate you so much. Fortunately he finally fucking leaves and Nick reassures her. 

AND NOW IT’S TRIAL TIME SO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH HIM MORE.

THIS GAME WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER WITHOUT YOU IN IT GODOT.

Well, we’ll endure and carry on. TILL NEXT TIME.

[beaglesinbowties]

Late entry for “They do exist!” Thursday. Forgive me, but I don’t remember the ship name. Alex/Lucy.

A wave of warmth hits Lucy as she pushes into the bar, and she has to laugh when Vasquez lets out a happy groan.

“I so needed this,” Vasquez says as she adjusts her tan button-up.

“Me too.” Agent Rajani Dhawan is relatively new to the DEO, but she’s already proved herself in the field on several occasions. Needless to say, Vasquez already has a massive crush on her. “Glad you guys invited me.”

“No problem.” Lucy smiles at the slightly taller woman, and when Rajani also smiles, Lucy does her best not to guffaw at Vasquez’s enamored expression.

Vasquez meets Lucy’s eyes and widens her own comically.

Amateur. Lucy shakes her head. “We usually hang out over here,” she says as she leads the way to their normal corner booth.

She lets Rajani and Vasquez sit first, and is about to join them when someone at the bar catches her attention. She cants her head to the side; the leather jacket is familiar.

“You guys go ahead,” Lucy says absently, “I think I see someone I know.”

Vasquez will just have to figure out how to woo Rajani on her own because Lucy is pretty certain…

“Alex,” she says as she rounds the bar stool. The hair is a little longer than she remembers, and mostly hiding Alex’s face, but Lucy’s certain she’s right. “What are you doing here? Thought you found a new bar to relax at.”

Maybe Lucy is a little upset, but she also knows that sometimes people just drift apart. She makes an effort to sound casual.

When Alex shifts and reveals red-rimmed eyes, Lucy immediately takes a seat.

“Hey, Lucy.” Alex’s voice is low and rough, and she doesn’t look away from her bottle of beer.

Lucy waits a solid minute, but Alex doesn’t say anything else. “Alright, I know my question sounded a little standoffish, but really...what’s up, Danvers?”

Alex’s shoulders stiffen, a flash of hurt passing so quickly over her face that if Lucy hadn’t been studying her carefully, she should have missed it.

Another few minutes pass, and Lucy can only sigh and gesture for the bartender. She orders herself a beer, taking a long sip when it’s set before her a moment later.

“Come on, spill.” Lucy bumps her shoulder against Alex’s.

Alex licks her lips and begins carefully peeling the label from her own bottle. “I met this woman…”

Lucy nods as the tale slowly unfolds, her eyebrows rising steadily. “So you’re--”

“A lesbian,” Alex affirms with a nod, freezing almost as suddenly as she’s said it. “I don’t think I’ve ever said that out loud, even when I came out to Kara.”

“And the woman - Maggie, right? - you’re sure she’s not into you?” Lucy isn’t sure how she feels about the revelation. She’d always admired both Danvers sisters, but there’s always been something about Alex that’s different. It’s in the way she moves, how sure her hands are when she handles a weapon. Lucy’s missed seeing her around the underground DEO facility.

“That’s what she told me,” Alex mutters, “and I feel like such an idiot. I mean, I’ve never met a woman who...I mean, I guess I have, but no one’s ever brought it up. It kind of would have been nice to figure this out a little bit sooner.”

Lucy makes a noncommittal noise in her throat. “Yeah, I guess that would have been nice.” She braces her elbow against the bar top so she can lean her face into her hand. “Vasquez might have asked you out. Hell, I might have asked you out.”

“You and Vasquez…?” Alex turns to her with wide eyes.

“Well, kinda, but not together. I’m bi, Vasquez is gay as hell. In fact,” Lucy twists on her stool so she can see the booth she’d abandoned. “She’s trying miserably to figure out if the woman she likes would be into something.”

Lucy smiles when she observes Rajani laugh at something Vasquez has said. “At the very least, they’ll probably be friends after tonight.”

“You...you date women?” Alex’s eyes are still wide when Lucy straightens on her stool

“Sometimes,” Lucy says slowly. “I’m sorry, are you having a hard time with this?”

Alex blushes and looks away. “Sorry, sorry. I just...I guess I’ve just always been so focused on work stuff that I didn’t consider, well, anything else.”

Lucy has to bite the inside of her cheek at the look, reminding herself that Alex is trying to get over feelings for another woman. It would be tacky and not smart to ask her out. Plus, it would probably ruin their friendship.

She clears her throat and sips from her beer. “We’re all going to spar tomorrow at the gym over on 12th tomorrow morning. You wanna come?”

“I’ve been such a shit friend to you and Vasquez, I’m sorry.” Alex gives her a contrite smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lucy says with a shrug. “Relocating to the other facility and then all that personal stuff? I know it’s probably been a lot to juggle.”

Alex just barely nods. “Kara’s been busy with CatCo and James and...it’s been hard not being able to find my dad.”

“You should definitely come spar with us tomorrow then. Blow off some steam.”

“I think I’d like that.” Alex’s smile is crooked, but it seems genuine.

Lucy chugs down the last of her beer and forces herself to look away. She’s just glad Alex doesn’t look miserable anymore.

*

Sparring twice a week becomes a habit, and before Lucy knows it, Alex is again a regular part of the group. Kara joins them once in a while for bar nights, as do Winn and James.

“You guys have to come to the alien bar,” Winn says with bright eyes one night, “tipsy Kara is so hilarious.”

Kara blushes and adjusts her glasses. “I am a perfectly normal tipsy person, thank you very much.”

James snorts and adjusts his arm along the back of her chair, leaning forward after a moment. “No, Lucy, Winn is right. Kara is hilarious. I’d take a photo for you, but it’s just not the same experience.”

Lucy laughs when Kara lightly smacks his chest and he pretends to be hurt, glad that she doesn’t feel weird seeing them. They seem happy, and honestly, Lucy’s happy for them both.

“Isn’t it disturbing, how happy they are?” Alex says with a delighted grin.

“I kind of like it,” Lucy admits with her own small smile.

Alex bumps their shoulders together, and their eyes meet.

Lucy almost forgets they’re not alone, abruptly coughing and reaching for her mixed drink.

It’s been nearly a month since they’d started hanging out again, and Lucy knows she’s just been reading too much into their interactions. Just because Alex has figured out she’s not into guys, it doesn’t mean she’s suddenly into Lucy.

Alex had certainly never seemed interested in the months they’d both worked at the underground DEO facility. She’s not disappointed, Lucy tells herself.

She tunes out the group when Winn begins relaying some anecdote pertaining to a case she isn’t familiar with. She’ll have to figure out what’s going on with herself soon. Sparring with Alex has had some...interesting effects on her. It doesn’t help that Alex seems really fond of grappling.

“I kicked your ass this morning,” Alex says in a low voice, pulling Lucy from her thoughts.

Lucy arches her eyebrows, glancing quickly to assure no one’s paying attention to them. “Excuse me? No, you didn’t. You barely won, and only because Vasquez made us stop. We weren’t being too rough. There was hardly any blood.”

Alex laughs, her eyes crinkling at the sides. “Whatever you say, Lane.”

“Watch it, Danvers.” Lucy narrows her eyes.

“Oh, please, what are you gonna do? Kick my shin?”

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

“No, not at all. We know how that’d turn out, especially after this morning.”

If Alex wasn’t so damn hot, Lucy would punch her stupid smug face. “We could go again tomorrow. Just you and me, no Vasquez or Rajani.”

“We could,” Alex says slowly, “or...we could go again tomorrow night - but instead of the gym, we could hit the alien bar.”

“I..” Lucy furrows her brow. “What? Are you asking for a rematch or for a date?”

“Date,” Alex supplies, trying her best to look innocent.

“That’s how you ask a woman on a date? Jesus, Alex.” Lucy is about to take another drink from her glass when the words finally sink in. She blinks slowly and puts her glass back down.

She thinks Alex is joking - until she sees that the cocksure grin is gone and instead Alex is nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Wait, really? That’s your--Alex.” Lucy rubs her face and shakes her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Date me?” Alex asks with a shy grin, and honestly, how dare she look so adorable.

Lucy glares at her. “You’re lucky you’re like, both stupidly hot and incredibly cute.”

“Wait, is that a yes?”

Alex looks so excited that it almost makes Lucy angry. Here she’s been stressing and worrying that she’s reading too much into their friendship, and then Alex comes out of the blue with asking Lucy for - and in the most awkward way - a date. There’s only one thing Lucy can possibly do to get back at her.

She grips the collar of Alex’s leather jacket and abruptly pulls her into a kiss, not caring that everyone is staring at them.

“You’re ridiculous,” Lucy mumbles a long moment later. Alex’s lips had been far softer than she’d been able to imagine. Of course.

“You’re...yes,” Alex mumbles back, obviously still dazed from the kiss.

Lucy licks her lips, now aware that no one around them is speaking. She’ll have to get Alex back more...later.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

give me back my work!!!

"Keith!" 

Slamming his bloody hands down against the castle wall, Keith didn't even head Shiro yelling his name. He was so angry and hurt that all he felt was pain, and the pain felt good. It felt real. It felt solid and it was what he needed. As far as he could remember, he and Lance had never fought like that, even before they were together. They'd never fought in a way that cut so deep. Even a knife to the heart would hurt less

"Keith, stop!"

Before his hands could hit the wall again, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and hefted him on his feet. Snarling and scratching at his captors arms, his heart was pounding so hard and loudly his head throbbed in response

"Krolia, help me with him"

"Let me go!"

"Keith"

"Let me the fuck go!"

As his bloody hands slipped from Shiro's arm, his mother grabbed his wrists. Howling in anger, he kicked out, hitting her in the stomach, but failing to dislodge her. If anything, her grip tightened

"Keith! Calm down!"

"Get off of me!"

"Krolia..."

"Don't let him go"

"I said get off!"

"What do we do? Do we get Lance?"

Lance. Yeah right. Like he would care. For some reason the thought of Lance caring was just about the funniest thing in the universe. Laughter bubbled up, and fell from his lips in a half twisted screech 

"You think Lance cares? Lance and I are over!"

"Keith, what do you mean? What happened?!"

"He wants to die! He never gave a shit about me or our kids! He just wants to fucking die!"

"That's not true..."

"Then why did fuck Lotor? Why did he fuck Shiro? You're the one who told me about it?! Why mum?! If he loved me..."

The crack that sounded as his mother slapped his face left him stunned. Spitting the blood from his mouth, he snarled at the woman

"He's the one who tried to break our bond. Guess what mum? Your son's a fucking failure! I couldn't even keep my own fated omega from wanting to fuck everyone else!"

"Keith, calm down. I'm sure there's an explanation"

"Yeah. That he never wanted me to begin with. He tried to tell me and I never fucking listened!"

"Shiro, get him out of here. I don't care where you take him. Keith, I am so beyond disappointed in you right now"

"Good! Walk away! Walk away and forget me like you did before! I never meant anything to you! I never meant anything to anyone"

Releasing her hold on his wrist, Krolia looked him up and down

"You need to cool your head before you say or do something you regret!"

"I regret ever being born!"

Shiro's arm tightened around his waist, the alpha beginning to walk down the hall. Even with one arm, he couldn't compete with the crushing hold around his waist. But at least it was pain, and pain was better than nothing at all.

 Carrying him into the training hall, Shiro threw him down on the mats. Pushing himself up, he launched himself at the alpha 

"When did you become her dog?"

Clumsy from blood loss and fatigue, the punch he threw at Shiro was easily dodge, and returned with a knee to his gut. Dropping to the floor, he coughed as his fingers tried to find purchase 

"Get up!"

"Fuck off!"

"Get up Keith!"

Looking up at Shiro, he spat towards him

"You've always liked looking down on us. Haven't you? Always acting like you're so much better than the rest of us"

Pushing himself up, he rolled his neck slowly as he shook his hands

"I'm so sick of you"

"At the moment, the feelings mutual"

Lashing out again, he roundhouse kicked Shiro as hard as he could. Catching his leg, Shiro flipped him, and Keith ended up face first on the mats again

"Get up Keith!"

"Why? You've already taken everything from me!"

"What? What have I taken from you? Lance? At the moment you aren't even fit to lick his shoes"

Scrambling up, he kept his stance low as he drove his shoulder into Shiro, sending them both toppling onto the floor

"How dare you say his name!? He's my mate!"

"Then why aren't you with him? Do you know how lonely he was without you? But you couldn't even call him! You didn't even help him with your own son's"

"He didn't want me!"

"Of course he did! You know Lance! He tries his hardest until he falls apart, but you know, he did so well when you were gone. He was eating, and dancing and smiling. Maybe you can't make him happy"

Grabbing Shiro by the collar, Keith straddled his lap. Lifting Shiro up, he slammed him down to the floor, over and over

"You stay the fuck away from him! You can't make him happy!"

"Of course I can't! You're the one he's in love with! You're the one he's been in love with since before he even admitted he was an omega! But all you did was kick him down. Then bam. He presented and suddenly he was your everything! Every time he chased after you, you had nothing nice to say, but he kept trying. That's what he does! And if he's picked a fight with you, then you know he's gotta have a quiznakking good reason for it!"

Releasing his hold on Shiro's collar, the alpha dropped to the floor with a groan 

"He wants to die"

"It's been a long time since Lance has wanted to die"

"He has a plan to save Pidge, but it means putting his own life at risk..."

Keith's anger dropped away, tears from and raced down his face. With a mournful howl he slid from Shiro's lap, so he kneeling beside him. Covering his face with his bloodied hands, he screamed into them. He didn't want Lance to die. He wanted his happy beautiful mate by his side. Climbing up from the floor, Shiro wrapped his arm around him, guiding him against his chest. It'd been so long that Keith had forgotten what it'd been like to be friends with Shiro. Rubbing his shoulder, Shiro buried his face in Keith's hair 

"It's just a plan. It's not reality. We're not going to do anything until we've all talked about it. Now, have you calmed down enough for me to look at your hands?"

"They're fine"

"They're bleeding"

"It's fine. I deserve this"

"I doubt Lance would be happy that you think that"

"You don't know what was said"

"No I don't. I know you still don't like me for what happened, but you can at least let me clean your hands up. You can't see Lance like this"

Sniffling, Keith nodded. He needed to see Lance and apologise. Even if his omega didn't want him anymore, he had to make sure he knew he was sorry.

 With both his hands cleaned up, Keith eyes his bruised and swollen knuckles. He was definitely going to be feeling it once the adrenaline coursing through him faded. It was a disgusting mess, and one he still felt he deserved. Shiro had wanted to bandage them, but he wouldn't let him. Some part of him still wanted Lance to know how much he'd hurt him, and his alpha was in complete agreement. Letting Shiro lead the way, they'd made their way to the kitchen. He didn't particularly want to see anyone, and being this close to Shiro was messing with his head. Keith honestly just wanted to find Lance, apologise and then take a long ride in Black, but that wasn't his things were going to play out.

 Entering the kitchen, Allura, Hunk and his mother was there. He couldn't deny he didn't feel both disappointed and relieved at Lance's absence 

"Have you cooled down?"

Nodding at his mother, he wrapped his arms around his waist in a very Lance way

"Good. Now come have something to eat. Allura and Hunk have been telling me about this plan Lance came up with"

"Where..."

Clearing his throat, Keith tried to rid the softness from his voice 

"Where's Lance?"

"He's in the games room with the pups. I'm making him something to eat when he wakes up"

Looking to the door, it was so tempting to flee 

"Keith, Lance told us about his plan. I know you don't like it, but if we figure out the finer details, we might be able to help Pidge"

"Did he tell you he's fine with dying?"

His tone was dripping with bitterness

"Keith, Lance doesn't want to die"

"You could have fooled me"

"He said so himself. He wants to live. He wants to be with you and the pups. Now sit down before you fall down"

Crossing to the empty stool, Keith sank down. Taking his hand, his mother laid it flat on the counter in front of them

"They're not as bad as I expected"

"I deserve it"

"Perhaps"

"I'll get you some ice for them"

"It's fine Allura. Let's just talk about what we're going to do"

"Hunk, Krolia and I have all been scanned for signs of infection, we're clean"

"That's something..."

"And as Lance was with you, you're both more than likely to be clean which means we just need to check Coran and Shiro"

"And then what?"

"We call Lotor. Even if he loans us a sample of pure quintessence, we should be able to lure the black goop from Pidge"

"How do we trap it?"

"We know Honerva trapped it before, using Altean technology..."

"She's not exactly going to help us"

"I know you don't want to hear it, but Lance did have a point. He has the  strongest Bayard of all us"

"I know he does. I also know he's likely to take a risk, even if there's a chance it won't pan out. I didn't mean to make it seem like Pidge isn't important, but we do need to think about everyone on this castle. Especially since we don't know what exactly caused the infection"

"See. That's all you had to say. You don't have to be so angry"

Shooting his mother a glare, he looked back down at his hand

"So we contact Lotor and get the sample. We also need to take the castle offworld so we don't risk the Olkari..."

"I can stay behind with the sample..."

"No you cant Allura. You're the only one who can fly the castle"

"Then I will"

"Mum..."

"No, I'm Galra. Even if I'm infected, I should be able to withstand long enough to notify you"

"How do we get Pidge out the pod and to the quintessence without putting anyone in danger"

Humming, Hunk suddenly slammed his hands down 

"Hunk?!"

"Pidge was rebuilding a sentry, or even better, if Lotor will lend us one, we don't need anyone physically on the castle. We get the sentry to handle the pure quintessence"

"We don't know what will happen to its systems. They might be overloaded by the power of the quintessence"

"If we use the container the quintessence is in, it won't even have to touch it. Or we can attach it to the sentry and have it move through the ship. If we can get it to the airlock, we can just flush it into space and destroy it out there with Voltron"

"Hunk, how confident are you with your reprogramming skills?"

"I'm not as good as Pidge, but with Matt's help..."

"So it comes down to Lotor..."

"He owes us a favour. If it wasn't for Lance, he'd still be stuck down in that rift with Shiro"

"Thanks"

"I didn't mean anything by it..."

"Lance said he felt like this would work. It was his "feeling" that lead us to Shiro and Lotor... I think we need to trust in this plan of his"

Keith swallowed as he nodded

"If someone has to stay behind, I'll do it. It's my job as the Black Paladin to protect our team"

"I could..."

"Shiro, you only have one arm. What happens if you need both of them?"

Snorting, Shiro shook his head 

"I still beat you with one arm, and you were verging on going feral"

"Keith, Buddy, you need to stop going feral when it comes to Lance"

"I can't help it. You know what was said"

"I do. And you both had valid points, and I know he was trying to push you away, but that doesn't make it ok"

"Do you think he's ok?"

"I think he's asleep, and I think if you wake him, it's not going to be pretty"

"He's going to yell at me again?"

"I'm going to yell at you"

"Allura, you and Shiro contact Lotor. Remind him about the rift if you have to. Mum, can I trust you to take a look at them work Pidge was doing without getting infected?"

"I don't plan on dying any time soon"

"I'll take that as a yes. Hunk..."

"Hunk will be here figuring out what to do with all these cookies"

"Thanks. I'm going to check in on Lance, and then Shiro, Coran and I will meet in the medical bay for our scans. Once they've come back clean, we'll send message to Matt, as well as to Ryner and inform her of what's happening here..."

"Don't forget dinner is mandatory"

"And it can wait until we've left Olkarion..."

"Keith... you can't mess with my food, man"

"I'm not messing with your food, I'm just delaying dinner a few vargas so we can get everything organised"

"Hunk, just call us when dinner is ready"

"Will do, Shiro"

 Parting from the others, Keith headed down to the games room alone. His mother had forced to him eat before letting him off, and the meal of cookies wasn't sitting well in his stomach. As the alpha walked, he tried to play out all the different conversations. Lance didn't want him to let him go, even if he had to yell at him, but yelling in front of the pups... he could not do that again. It was horrible and they didn't deserve to hear it.

 The door to the games room appeared far too soon for Keith's liking. The feeling in his stomach had only gotten worse and now it felt a thousand butterflies were trapped inside. One or two butterflies he could handle. When Lance laughed or smiled genuinely, they always seemed to pop up, but this... this wasn't a nice feeling at all. Placing his hand on the door pad, he nearly let out a laugh as the door opened, and the first thing he heard was a long snore. Lance was sleeping. He didn't have to worry about what he was going to say, because his mate was asleep and he was too much of a coward to wake him. Walking over to the bed, he sank down on the edge, examining Lance's sleeping face. He was pale, and exhausted, but there was a smile on his lips... one Keith chose to believe was for him. Letting his eyes roam his omegas form, he found Lance's jacket had hiked up to expose his hip and part of his snail trail. Reaching out, his fingers hovered over Lance's hip, before he finally shook his head, and pulled his mates jacket down for him. Even if he wanted to touch Lance, Lance probably didn't feel the same way anymore. With a heavy heart, he rose to his feet, gathering up as the closest blanket as he did. Laying it over Lance, he made sure his mates shoulders were covered, before finally crumbling slightly. Running his fingers over Lance's soft brown hair, he smiled at the running joke it'd become between them. They still hadn't cut each other's hair, and Lance's had hit they awkward not long, but too long to call short stage. Nuzzling his pillow in his sleep, Lance let out a sleepy huff

"Keith..."

It was like Keith had been shocked. Yanking his hand back, he stumbled away from the bed before fleeing. He wasn't ready to talk to Lance...

  *

Having carried out his duties, Keith left Allura and Hunk in the Kitchen. Lotor had agreed to help, but only because his soldiers were dropping like flies. The emperor had used much more graceful language, almost managing to make it sound like he actually cared about them. With everyone except Pidge having come back clear, Keith now found himself stuck waiting and it didn't sit well with him. He could go back to Lance, but that ran the risk of waking his mate. He didn't want to hear the words he was sure Lance would say, "It's over", two tiny words with so much weight behind them. Lance was supposed to be his for the rest of their lives, and a few doboshes of anger had ruined everything they'd built together. The morning had been so amazing, so how had they ended up like this... yes, once again, he was back to that. The fact that when Lance had woken up, it had been just them. Just Lance and Keith. Omega and Alpha. Not mum and dad, or Black and Red Paladin's. Just the two of them in their own little world. With a jumble of feelings and no real outlet, he headed to the training room. Even if he couldn't grip a blade or a gun, he could still work out... or just wander around aimlessly until he fell down from exhaustion.

 Keith was doing just that when the door to the training room opened, and a sobbing Allura rushed inside. In her arms were one of the pups... Why did Allura have him?! And why was she crying. Striding straight up to him, Allura was trembling badly as she tried to wipe the tears away with her left hand 

"Allura?"

"Keith, you should take him"

Half offering and half placing the pup in his arm, the screaming boy finally started to settle. It was really kind of hard to tell who was more upset 

"Allura, it's ok. Babies cry"

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath, but Keith caught a whiff of Lance's scent. His mate... his mate was devastated? No... it was more than that

"Allura, what happened?"

"I'm so sorry Keith..."

Grabbing her shoulder, his fingers dug into her suit

"Allura. Tell me what happened? What happened to Lance?"

"It's... it's not Lance. It's Kelance"

Snarling, he leant right in

"What happened to my son?"

"He's... he's infected"

Stumbling backwards, Keith sank down around Laneith as he tried to remember how to breathe. Kelance was infected? How? Why?

"Keith. Keith, he's alive. Lance seems to be ok, but they're putting Kelance in a pod"

"What do you mean Lance is ok?"

How could Lance be ok, when their son was dying?

"He doesn't seem to be infected"

"Where is he?"

Allura stared down at him

"Where is he?!"

Allura squeaked as he snapped at her

"In the pod room..."

"Get the castle off of Olkarion"

"Keith?"

"Get it off! I'm going to check on Lance"

"You can't... he might be carrying the black goop. He doesn't want Laneith near him"

He didn't want his own son? Was that just because of the infection or because he regretted giving birth to them? His anger and fear was robbing him of rational thought

"He's my mate!"

"Exactly! He's been with the pups. He could have been infected, and for all we know, Laneith might have too. The pups are always together, so we need to scan Laneith"

Cradling his son closer, Keith nuzzled into his chubby cheek. He felt physically sick knowing Laneith might... might die

"Right. Right... ok. Keith, is it safe to help you up, because I can feel the anger coming from you"

"I... just... let's get to the medical bay"

 Laneith really didn't like being scanned. His pup wriggled as he cried, as if trying to escape the small amount of warmth from the machine

"Keith, there's no sign of infection. I think Laneith is alright"

"Allura..."

"Look for yourself. He looks perfectly... human. I mean, if I'm reading these scans right, it's hard to tell because I only have experience really with full sized humans, and he's so tiny. I'm really sorry, I don't know why I am not able to be quiet"

"Allura, it's called relief. You're not able to be quiet because of your relief. Turn the machine off, I don't think he likes it too much"

Pulling Laneith's shirt over his chubby belly, Keith lifted him back into his hold. He was beyond relieved Laneith was alright, but Lance still needed to be scanned, and they still needed to save Kelance and Pidge... and maybe even Lance 

"I've got you. Shhh, it's alright now. Daddy's here"

"Do you think he's hungry? Is that why he's crying?"

"That would probably be part of it. He needs a nappy change too"

"The formula's in the cupboards. Shall I get it?"

"And the bottles. They need to be clean before we make the formula up. And nappies, I think there were some hidden away in here"

Would Laneith even take formula? They'd tried it before with no success, but maybe because he was older now?

"Lance insisted on keeping nappies in here, he made sure everything was stocked in case of an emergency"

Of course his mate did. Lance was an amazing mother, even on his bad days.

 From the medical room, they headed up to the Kitchen. Allura hovering as Keith went about changing Laneith. His son was somewhat calmer once his nappy had been changed, but even if his cries had quietened, he was definitely not happy

"You miss your brother and your mum, I know. I miss them too..."

"Keith, what can I do?"

"Can you sterilise the bottle and make the formula? The instructions are on the tin"

"I hope Hunk won't mind me using his kitchen"

"Allura, you're the queen. You own this castle. If anyone can use this kitchen without Hunk's supervision, it's you"

"Sometimes I forget"

How could you forget your the queen of an entire race!? Just because Allura was gentle and friendly to them all... and followed orders... ok, maybe he could see how it might on occasion slip her mind

"Allura... I don't know how to be a dad. Lance is so amazing at all of this. He's been amazing with the pups since he birthed them..."

Bustling through the kitchen, Keith could only stare down at Laneith 

"Keith, you're amazing too. You stayed with Lance as he birthed the pups, the first set of twins. You stayed with him, you held him as he cried and even though they were fathered by Shiro, you loved them like they were you own. You love your pups, and if you weren't a good dad, you wouldn't be worrying like this. You're a good person Keith. A good Paladin and a good partner to Lance. Try having some more faith in yourself"

"If only it was that easy. Lance never improved when he was with me. Yet a phoeb with Shiro and some how he's eating, sleeping and training. Maybe I shouldn't be his alpha..."

"If you keep this up, Shiro might just swoop in steal Lance away"

Keith growled at Allura's jab

"I'm joking. Lance was only trying so hard for you. Even if Shiro had feelings for Lance, it's Lance's choice and he chose you... I just put too much powder in the bottle?! Is that ok?"

"It should be fine... I don't see why not? We don't even know if he'll take it"

"Maybe we could put something sweet in it?"

"No, just the powder. Laneith, it's alright. Your Aunty Allura is making you a nice bottle right now"

Patting his son's back, Laneith's small fingers gripped his jacket. His heart skipped a beat. He couldn't imagine not having both boys, and Laneith... even if they were so tiny and ignorant to the world around them, Laneith was always with Kelance.