#i think some of the reblog stuff sounds nice and bug fixes are always good. but that's it

[charaznablescanontoyota]

look i know yall don’t want to hear or acknowledge this but tumblr’s existing tools for visibility are godawful for the smaller artists/devs/writers/podcasters/etc trying to move over here after gaining most of their following on twitter, and not being sure how much of that following will jump to a different site. even blaze sucks now because a lot of peoples’ kneejerk reaction is to scroll past or leave a rude comment. i don’t think staff’s solutions to this are right or even that there is a right solution it just sucks all around tbh

[blossom-hwa]

fashion major!kevin

ANYWAY THERE WAS LIKE ONE PERSON WHO CALLED FOR A FASHION MAJOR KEVIN SPINOFF OF THE COLLEGE MODEL JUYEON AU I JUST POSTED (linked below) anyway! hope you enjoy, please reblog if you did, and check out my other dumb overly long blurbs in the stream of idiocy tag on my blog <3

pairing: kevin x gender neutral!reader

wc: 2.5k

genre: fluff, university!au

triggers: cursing

college model!juyeon

TBZ Scenarios Masterlist | TBZ Drabbles Masterlist

kevin moon is known on campus for two things: 1. his bright personality literally everyone loves him and if you don’t you’re jealous of him like sorry not sorry i don’t make the rules you know i’m right and 2. his.... unorthodox fashion sense. like eric thought his snake patterned shit was weird as hell?? but there are weirder things in kevin’s closet i swear to you. anyway this unorthodox style is what got him accepted into the fashion program at the university and even though there are a few assholes who stick their noses up at kevin’s work the vast majority of people are cool w his outfits even if they personally wouldn’t wear them and kevin is v well-liked in his major and on campus in general bc he knows everyone and is nice and polite and really a v cool person to be around when he’s not being a fucking idiot

and on campus there are fashion shows a few times every semester to show off the fashion majors’ work, and let’s just say that this university if p well know for its fashion major so some famous people sometimes come along to these events so EVERY TIME a fashion show rolls around the fashion majors get nervous as FUCK and there’s a lot of speculation on who will get noticed and whatever and everyone is secretive about what they’re working on and just. everyone goes fucking haywire and kevin is always v happy when the stress winds down after a show

(no one knows it but kevin has gotten offers from several companies to work with them after he graduates. he hasn’t told anyone except a few friends like juyeon/jacob and his family)

anyway you are also a fashion major who secretly really admires kevin’s stuff?? like you just think he’s so daring and creative and all of his work is absolutely amazing even if it’s a little weird and honestly you don’t even feel overshadowed by his talent and hard work you just feel in awe that you can be in his presence at all. you’re p sure kevin has no idea who you are bc even though you have a lot of the same classes you’re always too shy to sit or work near him bc even though he seems so nice and approachable he’s also just.... god he’s so good

BUT THEN. one of your professors announces that for the next fashion show they’ll be modeling projects that he’s assigning right now. which is weird asf bc usually you’ll all take your best clothing and like fix it or tweak it for the next show, like sometimes people will make something completely from scratch but that’s nerve-wracking and not many people do it unless they’re in a real pinch but it gets even WEIRDER bc this is not a regularly scheduled fashion event?? it’s like a smaller event apparently that they’ve organized just for this project AND THE WEIRDNESS TAKES THE CAKE when your professor says that YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE MODELS. YOU ALL ARE GOING TO PICK SOMEONE IN THE CLASS TO MAKE CLOTHES FOR AND THEY WILL MODEL YOUR OUTFIT

and this SENDS EVERYONE FREAKING THE FUCK OUT??? bc oh god you can’t rely on the models you’ve been using all semester now??? and you have to make flattering clothes for someone you might not even know v well and it’s just. holy fuck holy fuck holy FUCK

meanwhile you already know who you want to create for (/ahem kevin moon/) but you’re also chicken so like??? you’re just sitting in your seat looking over at him but not saying anything until your friend chanhee just pushes you out of your seat in kevin’s direction and is like GO ASK HIM BEFORE YOU LOSE THIS CHANCE and you’re like JESUS FUCKING CHRIST CHANHEE but kevin’s noticed your movement and he’s looking over with a smile on his face and you’re like jfc i can’t do this but chanhee shoves you again and so you kinda smile (you really hope it looks like a smile) and your voice is LITERALLY shaking when you go over and ask if it would be ok to use him as a model for this assignment and he’s like.... oh my god yes

because what YOU don’t know is that kevin has been ogling your designs all year?? like he enjoys his own style and is comfortable in it but he loves your work as in LOVES IT. he thinks your designs are absolutely flawless and original and you combine styles so effortlessly that he just wants to look into your brain when you come up with ideas bc what the fuck?? you may have different styles but kevin knows how to admire art AND YOUR DESIGNS ARE ART. 

so you’re reeling a day later bc now you have kevin moon’s number and he has yours and he’s now texting you on when you think you’ll have the first preliminary designs ready and when you can meet up so you can get each other’s measurements and all that and when you eventually meet up your hands are shaking so much that you can barely take his measurements and kevin is screeching in his mind as well bc oh my god you’re going to model his clothes YOU’RE GOING TO MODEL HIS CLOTHES

most people are again being secretive about their designs and even though someone in their class is modeling for them this time so there’s a bit less secrecy they’re still working alone so you get a shock when kevin asks if you want to coordinate your outfits. like work on designs together and maybe make something that matches a little though ofc retaining your own styles and you just shriek when you get the text and poor childhood best friend younghoon spills his coffee (you have been friends since basically birth and there are no romantic feelings whatsoever ok it’s strictly platonic like you watched younghoon vomit after eating too much bread when you were like 10 and he watched you get tangled up in a soccer net when you were 13 there are no romantic feelings stemming from any of that)

needless to say you reply yes yes ye sYES and kevin is grinning so wide on the other end that juyeon wonders if he’s gone slightly insane (which he has but we’re not gonna dwell on that) and both of you show up to the work rooms nervous as all hell (i’m not a fashion major i have no fashion sense i still think t-shirts/leggings are the way to go so idk how any of this works do not sue me) but kevin has a natural ability to defuse any tension in the room so within minutes you’re comfortable and laughing with him and wondering why you were so scared to approach him before and THEN YOU’RE REMINDED WHY when he shows you his design for you because... oh god.... it’s unbelievable. like it has a distinctly kevin feel to it but he’s clearly been paying attention to what you wear and what you design because it’s something you would like to wear and something you even think you could look good in. holy shit

and you just blurt out like kevin what the fuck this is so good did you like stalk my designs or some shit?? and you mean it as a joke ofc but kevin just goes beet red and mumbles something about how he really likes your work and how it’s so sharply elegant but also insanely creative and you’re just. open-mouthed like. dude i’m in love with your work too oh my god i’m gonna cry my fashion idol just said he likes my designs i’m gonna screaM

kevin stops you from screaming though even though he also feels like he’s gonna scream and this is the start of a very productive partnership between the two of you like most of the fashion majors are friendly despite the competition but you and kevin are on a whole other level?? and you start hanging out more and more often even when you’ve finished designing and are actually sewing (you ask him if this part can be secret bc you want to add a few things as a surprise - he ofc says yes and winks and tells you he has things he wants to add too which just makes you want to scream out of excitement)

and it’s a week before fashion show day and you and kevin are finished with putting together the designs and you’re excited as all hell and kevin is literally about to burst from his own skin and you insist that he goes first and when he pulls the outfit from the bag you’re just. in absolute awe. the colors match the design you made, it looks like it’ll fit, and even though it screams kevin moon it also has a distinct vibe from your own fashion style and you just yell KEVIN MOON YOU GENIUS as you snatch it from him and go change

(you don’t know obviously but kevin is blushing like a tomato while waiting for you to finish changing)

it fits almost perfectly, kevin marks a few places to fix and is debating whether or not to compliment you bc??? that sounds like he’s complimenting his own work and that’s egocentric as hell but then you say something like does it look fine and he just blurts out more than fine. you look great

AND YOU’RE SO FLUSTERED THAT YOU ALL BUT THROW YOUR OWN BAG AT KEVIN and are like GO CHANGE 

so he takes out the clothes and goes silent and you’re like.... oh my god does he hate it i mean we worked on the designs together and he said he liked it then but what if he changed his mind but then he looks at you and his eyes are sparkling and he’s like y/n this is perfect. literally perfect and he rushes to go get changed and when he comes out your eyes are bugging out of your head bc holy hell you pictured kevin in these clothes obviously since they were made for him but he looks so much better than you ever imagined

and then you blurt out something like holy shit you look beautiful

and kevin blushes again

anyway you both take your measurements and run out and then the day of the fashion show rolls around and both of you are freaking out backstage but the instant you two go on it’s like you both are literal gods bc you feel so confident in each other’s clothing and the crowd can feel it THEY CAN FUCKING FEEL IT and they go nuts when you two walk out!!! and even though it isn’t like a huge major fashion show, it’s just for this one project that your professors cooked up, you and kevin are both beaming like the sun when it’s over despite the fact that it wasn’t an important event bc holy shit you two had fun and everyone’s complimenting your clothing and it’s great it’s just great

finally all the chaos is over and the clothes have been put away and the makeup removed and you and kevin are now standing outside the venue in a kind of stunned silence that all of it’s over. it’s all over. and then you suddenly thrust out the clothes you made that kevin wore and tell him to keep it. it’s a present. and kevin takes it but he also forces you to take the outfit he made for you. and then there’s silence again

but if there’s anything you’ve gained over the past few weeks it’s a bit of courage. courage that let you talk to kevin, courage that let you design clothes for him, courage that let you become friends (and maybe something more) with him. you’ve also learned that kevin is a massive dork and a lovely human being and you’d really love to at least stay in contact so in that the moment you smile and say ‘if i asked you on a date, would you wear that outfit?’

poor kevin looks like he’s about to have a fucking aneurysm and you start to lose confidence but then he’s nodding like there’s no tomorrow like yes ye sYE S OH MY GOD YE S and omg you now have a boyfriend whom you like very very much and kevin has a partner whom he likes very very much

you two may not be a pda couple but you ARE that couple that matches every outfit they wear, you make jewelry and accessories for each other and also make each other clothes every so often. everyone is jealous of your combined fashion sense bc even though the outfits might look outrageous, you two both manage to pull them off and look fabulous at it, but also they can’t even be that jealous bc you two are the sweetest couple and are absolutely lovely 

both of you do wear the outfits you made for that show on your first date which is to like a musical or smth bc theatre kid kevin is something you can pry out of my cold dead hands and everyone’s staring but you two are in your own little world and it’s amazing

kevin admits at one point that he was afraid to ask you out bc he thought younghoon was your boyfriend and you just snort and tell him everything stupid younghoon’s done and by the end younghoon is done with you, kevin is about to vomit he’s laughing so hard, and you are smirking like no tomorrow

for the end of year fashion show you and kevin fix up and accessorize the outfits you two made for the show that brought you two together and there is absolutely no surprise that several different fashion companies scout both of you (and a couple modeling agencies too since you and kevin decided to model your own clothing again - younghoon whines that you’ve replaced him but you shut him up with chocolate bread)

kevin’s a sucker for romance (you CANNOT tell me this isn't true) so your first kiss is on the roof of the fashion building at sunset when kevin does the cheesy thing where he says you look more beautiful the view and you almost slap him but you’re laughing so hard and kevin’s cackling and somehow it turns into a kiss

you are a dork and kevin is even more of a dork and it just works out beautifully bc you’re so absolutely in love that it makes people fake vomit from the sides (looking at chanhee right here) but it’s also really sweet in that you two trust each other completely and would do absolutely anything for the other except murder. kevin made that v clear but really only bc blood would stain his clothing and he doesn’t need that. you agree wholeheartedly (younghoon/juyeon are looking from the sides like what the fuck is this couple do they need help and you two are like just go away and let us be the weird couple we are ok). the conversation ends in a v soft v sweet kiss and just. ik i said it with juyeon but kevin moon is also best bf ever ok you cannot convince me otherwise. 

and that’s how it goes :)

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer for this weird-ass couple)

[sirenasinsib]

Spider

If you Like it please don't for get to press that Reblog! its means a lot to me!

WOW I havent posted in a while, been working on my own stuff but here is some personal works. Expecet to see alot of content of Spider and Viper. Ive been playing a ton of Titanfall so im in that mood rigt now. 

Fandom: Titanfall

Relatonship: Viper/OC Character

Warnings: Very long clocking in around 3260 Words! Explict language, canon violence, mutual pinging, build to relationship, and smut at the end!

He really didn't see why the ship was built to have a limited number of dorms. It was hard to find a spot and claim it as yours when it's already six members and their Titan, but the recent addition made it just a bit harder.

Spider, he was told, was to be dorming with him. Sloane and Ash were already in one room as was Ritcher and Kane, and he preferred to not have one of the other two males to be dorming with him, he saw how messy they kept theirs. Blisk's room was of course off limits. They were just about to take off when he heard a knock on the door before it slid open. Spider was there with only 2 duffle bags. She walked in quietly looking around the room.

The "kitchen" was towards the front of the room, right beside the entrance, a couch and TV opposite of it. Towards the back were two beds in opposite corners and lockers on both sides. The left side was noticeable more used with the bed sheets being almost completely off the bed, an extra locker that was slightly open due to the amount of tech it was holding. She took to the right side. Placing her duffle bags on the bed. Viper didn't focus on her as she moved around. He would have to just get used to another person in the room.

It was actually quite easy getting used to another person in the same room as him. The first week she slept with most of her gear on. The second week he noticed she would get up very early, earlier than Ash even, he didn't know where she went at the time, too busy trying to get more sleep before the day started. Hawk, his titan, told him later where Spider went. Often she went to the Titan hanger bay and got into her own Titan, JD. 

She appears to be under stress. JD has stated that they are not used to working with others. He also stated that she fears word of her being with the Apex Predators might get out and someone from her past may try to capture her.

Hawk spoke into the link as he worked on one of her thrusters. 

Is she that valuable of a member if she needs protection?

You were only a Predator if you had the skills. Needing protection meant you were weak. 

Calculations suggest a 78% better performance in missions with the assistance of a Monarch Titan and Pilot. It is also easier to be assisted, that is a possible reason why they joined instead of remaining in hiding. They were on low ammo and power, yet we’re able to steal just enough from both Militia and IMC units without being caught. 

It was one of their first real big missions after joining. They were to defend a couple of units going in to steal information and escort them out and to extraction. Spider had JD watch the back as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop calling out as well as distracting. 

“Would be nice if I got some help! Got a Legion hiding with an Ion!”

Kane yelled over the comms. Viper was on the far side of the complex and was dealing with his own Titan, same with the others when he heard Spider speak up. 

“On the way, can you distract them?”

“I’m in a fucking Scorch you bug! What do you think?!”

He spotted JD quickly running to the back of the area, halting slightly he guessed to pick up Spider before he started to hear the faint rattle of an electric charged XO-16.

“Enemy shields down! Kane?!”

He heard Kane laughing along with the roar of a Flame core activating and the sound of a Titan exploding. 

“Enemy Legion down.” 

Kane’s Titan spoke. Spider had to back up from a placement of Anti-Rodeo smoke when the Ion charged out with a vengeance. The monarch shot a few rockets and even an energy siphon before charging against the Ion. Then the radio filled with a hatch opening and a loud Metallic BAM. 

“Systems restored. Enemy pilot down.”

JD spoke. They had executed a Titan, and stole its battery. That was smart and ballsy Viper thought.

“Both teams got the data! Time to go!”

Blisk yelled into the comms, the roar of his Predator Cannon in the background. Viper dashed to the location of his team to defend as the others followed suit. Ash, Spider, and Kane made it back to his location while Blisk, Sloane, and Ritcher made it to their spot. Viper took to the skies, circling the group as Kane to the front and the other two took to a side. They would have a long walk to evacuation as they kept the enemy off their back and made sure that the ground troops stayed together. 

It was a long walk getting to extraction. They had to stop twice to make sure that they weren't followed and to give the ground troops rest since they didn't have a Titan. It was dark when they did their second stop deciding to rest a little before getting the last few miles in and getting off the planet. 

"Spider, Viper, you're on first watch. Sloane, Ash, you’re next, one hour." 

Blisk told them before finding a spot for his Titan to hunker down and both of them rest. Spider and Viper walked a bit away from the group before they found a spot. Spider hopped out of the Titan onto its hand as it lifted her up to the top of its chassis. She had a DMR in one hand with a ration bar in the other. Viper decided it would be a good time to eat as well. 

They sat in silence save for the whir of both Titans. Occasionally Spider would grab her DMR and look into the forest, he didn't see why, the titans would pick up on anyone approaching faster than they would, unless it was cloaked units but he didn't say anything. The hour passed uneventfully and Ash and Solane soon came to take their spot. Spider got back into her Titan as Viper moved Hawk to a spot and the other pair went to their own. 

"Viper? Can I ask you a favor?"

He turned from the blueprints for Hawk. Spider had grown more easy to get use to, she talked more. Sparred with the rest a few times. She seemed unsure right now. 

He spoke "Depends."

"My arm, I need another hand or set of hands to fix the connections and make sure the rotators aren't getting any build up or are worn down."

He was surprised to find her asking for help, he seen the way she reacted to others touching it when not fighting. 

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think you were capable, and I trust you a helluva lot more than the rest of the lot."

"Really, not very smart."

She gave a snort. "I seen the work you put on your Titan, as soon as you get this you're gonna do the same, besides, why purposely mess it up when I'm the one that keeps everyone's backs cleared."

It was quiet for a moment. 

"Fine. Blueprints?"

She tossed a small flash drive to his hands as she turned her focus to getting her arm off. He saw out of the corner of his eye, she pressed a button before twisting and pulling off the arm and placed it on the desk before turning

"I'm going to get cleaned up, you know how to find me."

They were sparing. He would never admit it out loud but she was one of the hardest predators to fight against. Sloane had a pattern, Ash wasn't fluid, Kane was easy to get dizzy, Ritcher you just let him do all the hard work of runnin around, Blisk favored his right side, but Spider? She dodged another lock, ducking quickly and she slid up right beside him, their gear rubbing against each other before she backed up from another swing.

She was fast, graceful, and really fucking hard to hit. He had one more trick. He turned around and charged her, she sidestepped, just like he thought she would and quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her with and using his momentum to flip them as they landed on the ground. He placed his fist above her neck as the other held her arm.

“I won.”

She gave a quiet laugh before tapping her non trapped hand on his side, where the armor was weaker. 

“More like a stalemate. Besides. . .”

He gave a small head tilt before suddenly her legs pushed against him, flipping him above her head. He let go of her arm, trying to stop himself from flipping. She quickly rounded and got above him, trapping both hands in her metal one as she placed her weight on his thighs, keeping from him lifting his legs to do the same. 

“I won now.”

Ok so he may or may not be pinning for the skilled sniper sleeping in the same room as him, who can beat him in hand to hand combat, does not intrude into his space, while also being a helpful hand when it comes to modding Hawk, and she looks good. Viper gave a quiet groan at his thoughts as he let the water wash his sins off the wall before he turned off the water. Drying most of his hair before wrapping the towel around his shoulders and pulling on a pair of boxers. He stepped into the room he shared the person of his thoughts with. Spider was distracted, she had taken her DMR apart and cleaned it again. The jump to their next contracts always left her on edge. “How many times have you taken that apart now?” He asked as he pulled on his pilot gear. “In total or while you were in the shower?” She was being funny, noticing he was in there longer than usual. He shook his head but grinned. 

“Ha ha very funny.” 

“Huh really, am I getting better at jokes? But in reality probably not a good idea to use a lot of hot water, you know how the boss and Kane get when they cant basically melt their skin off. There are other ways to relax.” His brain short circuit, did she really mean?-No that's just his thoughts, Spider didn't seem like the type to get attached to coworkers, or offer to be a fuck buddy. He didn’t turn around to face her, rather not look at her and see if she was being serious, the mission wouldn't go right then. “Yeah I know it's called sleep.”

“Thats- “Five mins till we get to the drop, get your asses to your Titans!” Blisked yelled into the comms. Spider didn’t get a chance to finish what she was gonna say as Viper grabbed his weapons and the rest of his gear and rushed out the door, she followed suit. 

He didn’t understand why he was sent on a solo mission, but he was told to for some reason, he guessed it was the fact no one knew his face, so he had to. He was ready to get back to being on the ship and rather deal with his personal issue then do another solo mission, he missed the small comfort of being assisted should things go south. 

He walked into the room quietly, it being late on the ship, and set down his duffel bag. The room looked mostly the same, another Sniper had been added to Spider’s desk, while a few Titan parts were placed on his, most likely due to Spider, she often found bits he was needing to get. Her bed was surprisingly empty seeing how she wasn’t in the hanger and he saw no one in the training room when he passed by. 

He looked to his bed, ready to sleep in his gear and deal with the pain later when he saw something in it. Spider was under the covers, wearing one of his shirts surprisingly and hugging his pillow. He turned not sure how to deal with her and decided to change. He heard the bed creak slightly as he changed and glanced back seeing Spider sit up. 

“Sorry I didn’t know you were back and I- the room felt different- I had problems sleeping and . . .”

She rambled before stopping, looking down and fiddled with the blanket before placing her hands beside her to get up. 

“I’ll get out of your way.”

“Spider.”

She paused and slowly looked up. He was close now, having changed. 

“If you want . . . you can stay.”

He didn’t want to admit but sleeping sucked when he was alone on the mission, the room felt barren without her. He missed her presence in general. 

“Oh-ok” 

She went towards the wall of the bed, grabbing her pillow and placing his back in the process as he got in. She hugged the wall as he faced the outside and he could feel her tension and it got on his nerves. He flipped over after sometime and placed a hand on her waist and held her.

“Relax.”

She took a deep breath calming herself before the two slowly drifted to sleep. They woke up with her head tucked under his chin and her own arms wrapped around his waist. They didn't speak about sleeping together, but they didn't stop either. He didn't know what to call whatever they had, sleeping together but not actually sleeping together. 

She was on a solo mission now. They needed someone who could go in and get close to the target without drawing attention. She volunteered actually. Pointing out that she still wasn't known as a Predator, and was an assassin before joining them. She got back two weeks later and immediately went to the med bay. The mission was successful but she had taken a few bullets, thankfully not in severe locations, removing glass shards, and trying to fix her arm. 

She was in a foul mood and no one bothered her, well except him of course. He had snatched her gear, arm and helmet mainly, the visor was cracked, as he set out to fix the two as she recovered. Once released from the med bay she was to rest and given a few more weeks for the nanites to do their job. 

He bothered her by watching movies, Top Gun and Edge of Tomorrow at least twice. Once healed she immediately went back to training, prepping her body after not having done so while healing. He joined her, bored out of his mind. 

"-nd I snapped his arm in half." 

She was talking about the mission as they spared. He stayed quiet letting her sort of vent before he blocked a swing from her. 

"Taught the ass to don't even think about touching someone without asking."

She spoke of someone following her, harassing her, while on the mission. She had gotten somewhere quiet and out of view before she attacked him after he touched her. While he was pissed that someone touched her, the fact that she broke his arm made him satisfied. He gave a groan hearing what sounded like metal on metal. 

His head was pounding yet he didn't even drink that much the night before. Spider was trying to be quiet, whipping up some food their bodies could handle while being slightly hungover. Eventually the noises stopped and he could tell lights were turned off. Cracking one eye open just a bit to see Spider in the kitchen eating whatever she made quietly, lost in her thoughts.

She was wearing one of his shirts again, he could see her shorts under the edge of his shirt but just barely. He looked away in his own thoughts before his eyes flicked back to her when she started moving. Bringing a bottle of water, medicine, and some food. 

"Are you always looking out for everyone?"

She hummed a bit as he sat up before speaking. 

"Guess it's just in my nature."

He gave a soft grunt as he was pushed onto the bed. Spider was quick to straddle him. She leaned down quickly, capturing his lips with hers and kissed hard. He kissed back just as hard as his hands grabbed her waist and head. He’s not sure how the make out session started. They were sparring again when it just got a little heated. OK more than a little, Spider had gained the upper hand and straddled his waist when he let out a tiny choked moan. She halted slightly, surprised by the noise before she moved but it felt like she purposely dragged her weight onto him more. Then they were hurrying back to their room, their gear quickly stripped away.

He was brought back to the present when Spider slowly kissed down his chest, her thumb flicking over a hardening nipple before kissing above his navel. She then tugged on his briefs, getting him to lift his hips as she pulled them off. Her hands felt along his thighs as she breathed over his cock. Slowly she gave the head a tiny kiss before giving a long lick on the underside. His breath was shaky but when she enveloped him with her mouth he let out a moan, his hands covering his face as she slowly bobbed up and down. Stopping at times to flatten her tongue on his head. 

"Fuck." He groaned out. 

Spider hummed, watching his reaction through her eyelashes. She continued before he started to pant harder, his hips slowly thrusting.

"Fuck-Spider-Ah!"

She quickly pulled off, her hand squeezing the base almost painfully keeping him for cumming. Slowly did he come from that high and she started to pump again. She crawled into his lap as she kept the slow pace, her other hand going to her cilt and rubbed lightly before slowly sliding a finger in. She matched her pumps, her finger sliding in as her hand went down. She continued even as she added a second and third. Once she felt stretched did she stop. 

Viper's hands went to her waist as she held him and slowly slid down a tiny moan coming out as she bottomed out. Then she rose and slid back down, her pace slow. His hands gripping her waist tight. She leaned down quickly kissing him as a hand went into his hair as the other braced near his head, his own hands moving, one to her hair, the other to the small of her back. 

The kisses were slow and sloppy, quiet pants came out between the kisses before Spider slowly increased her pace. They broke the kiss, letting their foreheads rest together. Quiet words spoken as the pleasure rose. 

"Nnnn-Viper-ah-Viper!"

"Fu-ck-Spider!"

They came with a shout. Spider giving a few thrust before slamming down hard and stilling. Small shakes went through their bodies as they breathed. Spider made a quiet whine as she pulled off him, feeling slick dribble out onto them both. She ran her hand through his hair slowly before giving a quiet grunt. 

"We need a shower."

"Is that an offer for round 2?"

He said with a grin causing a quiet laugh to escape her.  

"Only if you promise to help clean up the mess."

"Deal."

[codematurgy]

you could definitely say that what follows next is a quarentine diary of sorts, but i’m writing it up here because it relates to theme making in some ways; additionally, i just want to write something positive in the middle of this!

stay safe, of course - if your finantial conditions, likely because of the government of your country and/or your employer being criminals, aren’t good enough for you to stop working, i can’t say i’m exactly praying for you because i don’t have that practice, but i do hope you’ll be fine. this moment shows us how capitalists are willing to treat the working class. mandatory class struggle aside:

for starters shout out to tumblr because i love the new dashboard ok. i’m using the cybernetic palette and i really wish it was available on the app too. of course, my love of it isn’t related to the colors alone - i always thought the dashboard looked a bit messy in structure, so building it again from zero was a fantastic decision. love that i can see the words for image or avatar while the images are loading as well; they really took care of accessibility here, which was already an ongoing process with stuff like page order or focus, etc.

i just wanted to write that shoutout because i’ve seen a lot of people complain about it - mostly because xkit stopped working - while ignoring that the folks at xkit did explain how they’re helping the tumblr developers directly, and in turn their work at rewriting xkit would be even smoother. i don’t think people actually give tumblr developers credit where is due, and i’ve been fascinated with their work ever since i found out about official blogs such as @javascript or @engineering. it also clarified a few problems i’ve had when dealing with the mechanics of reblogs, even if some bits of it still drive me nuts! in a sense, thinking about theme making for tumblr has become more gratifying when you get to understand just what you’re doing. anyway, moving on.

i haven’t really done a lot of “theme making” for the past weeks - i did do a bunch of bug fixes to the npf photosets plugin, but nothing related to designing or creating and so on. it doesn’t mean that creating was completely lost to me, though i did channel it to something entirely different: movie reviews.

yeah. that sounds pretentious, i know.

i’m not a big fan of cash grab movies(read: pretty much most of recent disney work, and anything that feels similarly souless), but i never found the strength to watch the ones that are new and more popular around here; namely, stuff from a24. which is not to say those are bad! i’ve watched my share and they are really good - i’m absolutely enamored with the vvitch, for example. however, i’ve realized that i want to discover new worlds, and not all of them too serious neither constantly bombarding my tumblr dashboard or twitter timeline. people have been doing movies for such a long time and i keep wondering, how many incredible gems i’m missing on solely because i can’t be bothered to look back?

thanks to that, i’m watching movies i never thought i would watch. and more importantly, i’m writing about them - about the things that make them this single, incredible work. much like being in a show’s fandom, i guess, and writing such long metas on it, except i get to write shorter essays because i’m not getting an entire season, ahaha. i had never watched an art film up until now, i think, and although it wasn’t my favorite format from this first experience, it was nice and i’m actually willing to try it again.

one great takeaway from this experience, besides how awesome film-making is, relates to my creations here. a fascinating thing about movies is when their envisioners work to have this coherent, complete piece of work filled with all it needs to be solid, instead of letting these loose threads. this is not in a plot sense strictly, but for so many aspects like choosing to add something to costume, set, or prop design; the choice of a weird but so incredibly telling original score; a photography that goes beyond having a pretty centralized shot and adds weight to every shot... wow, that stuff is unreal, and it is so full of purpose!

this feeling of completeness is one i think i have been working on gradually, but still could do better. i have this terrible process in which i barely have a full sketch for a theme - i just think that i want this one thing and build the whole theme around that detail live on the code instead of actually planning it. i believe that, likely because of this, it feels like my themes are just this tiny design in the middle of a blank website. Chamamento, SETE and Ágora feel like outliers in that sense, even though the process was still chaotic, solely because at one point i actually sat myself down and i said “i want this”.

hopefully, i can take this knowledge with me on the next themes coming around! i don’t know when they will come, but i do have an idea for post styling and another one for a “complete” layout - i’ll try not to merge those in my weird process so it’s not too much information, though. there’s one theme in the works for a while too, which is based on the one i mentioned working on as i first mentioned Temporal, but it’s been reworked into an entirely different beast which i’m quite happy with; mostly because there is no pixel based post size! in fact, i’m considering not having typical post sizes for all next themes, choosing a more typical blog approach. it sounds weird but so far it looks really cool, although probably not as much if you’re doing graphics with set sizes... well, graphic makers were never my demographic to begin with.

and well, on an entirely different note: i keep forgetting that when you have a theme uploaded to tumblr, you can check active installs. actually seeing people using your themes, when before the only way you could see it was by hoping whoever reblogged or liked it had in fact installed it, is so exciting!!! it actually confirms that the people using my themes, or at least using Temporal, are often just your average blogger sharing memes, fanart and talking about the latest podcast - you know the one. it’s a pleasure to be making themes for y’all!

[ld200]

Tagged by @anomalous-appliances, thanks! (My fingers finally know how to type ‘anomalous’ correctly on the first go. At least it didn’t take as long as ‘lieutenant.’ Muscle memory is weird.)

Favourite plant/tree/flower?

I like roses, cheesy as that sounds, but mostly because I’m very, very drawn to things with a lot of dichotomy. Soft, delicate, colorful flower, but thorns are very sharp and can make you bleed easily. Still cheesy? Yep. Just not in the romantic way, lol. I have a tattoo on my leg that has a small blue rose.

Favourite colours?

Rich, dark colors. Blue, burgundy, crimson, brown, indigo. Blue is probably my favorite.

What do you always doodle?

I spent an inordinate amount of time making circles on a sticky note by drawing around a quarter. There are probably hundreds and hundreds of overlapping circles on that sticky note. I’ve been at it for weeks. I’m on the phone a lot so my job is often hands-free. You’d think I would doodle more, actually.

How do you take your tea?

Black, maybe a little sweetener.

Favourite candle scent?

Natural scents (pine forest or whatever variant is nice). Mild stuff.

Sunset or sunrise?

Sunset. I’m a night owl - even though I get up early for work, the second I have a day off I stay up until 4 and sleep until 1-2 in the afternoon. I miss most sunrises. Lol

What perfume do you wear?

I just stick with a shower and deodorant, lol. I don’t like having a smell stuck in my nose. Even if it’s a good one, it starts to register as bad when it lingers. :/

Favourite quotes?

"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”  -Frank Herbert I have no idea who this guy is, all I know about him is the quote, but I love the hell out of it, especially the part I italicized. It also encapsulates a theme I really enjoy writing about. You won’t catch me overcoming many fears or doing anything particularly brave, but hell if I don’t love writing characters doing it. <3

Favourite self-care routine?

Drinking

Just kidding. (Mostly.) I used to think it was pointless to make the bed because hey, we’re just gonna crawl back in it later, aren’t we? But I do anyway because then I don’t have to fix it up later enough to make it lounge-able, it’s already ready for me. Making it is doing future me a favor, and I try to do at least a few tiny things a day for future me, whether it’s short-term or long-term.

Fuzzy socks or slippers?

Slippers, I guess? My feet are usually bare. I feel like 80% of my body heat is in my feet.

What colour are you eyes?

Blue.

Favourite season?

Autumn is great. Crisp, cool weather, changing colors, leaves fucking everywhere. 

Winter is great too. Cold weather which means the house is default cool instead of default warm. A+. Also, snow is pretty. And no damn bugs.

Spring is fine when it’s rainy season. Rain is the best writing music.

I probably like most of the weather other people hate. :’)

Cheek, neck or nose kisses?

All of the above? But, I mean, gun to my head - neck kisses. Oof.

Do you want to be married?

Not particularly. I’m sure if I met the right gal or guy I would be down with it - I don’t have anything against it. But I’ve also lived completely on my own and loved every second of the freedom, so I’m fine without it, too.

Cursive or print?

Print. Easily. Cursive grinds my gears.

Favourite weather?

Steady, heavy rain. If I’m inside, it’s a pleasant backdrop. If I’m outside, like that one time I met my mom at Art Van to look at some furniture and we had to park far away and both got absolutely soaked in the span of 10 seconds, then it makes for laughter and sweet memories.

I like dry winter weather too. November-December when it’s cool to cold but not yet snowing? Yes please.

I’m being lazy and tagging everyone I mentioned in my reply to anon yesterday (and anyone who got mentioned by someone else who reblogged it).

[toradh]

Fran spends a month on Pillowfort

Hi folks, after a month of having a Pillowfort account, let me tell you a little about it to make you join the fun:

-there’s still some known issues/bugs that need to be fixed; the good news is, the staff WANTS you to tell them so they can fix them over time.

-okay GOOD news first. There is an inbuilt (!) blacklisting feature. Yes I know tumblr has that now, too (another reason for me to never log out, lol), but Pillowfort had it from the start. You can blacklist as many tags, or even words within a post as possible. Bad news: it’s case-sensitve, so either you have to blacklist everything in different capitalization variants, or you have to pray that everyone agrees on one variant when tagging their posts (eg if you block “fandom drama lama”, a post tagged “Fandom Drama Lama” will still appear). And just as on tumblr, it doesn’t work if somebody reblogs that post but doesn’t add the tag again that you blacklisted (or is it finally fixed on tumblr now? idk). So keep an eye open for that (plan is to fix that so that all REBLOGS of the tagged post will STILL be blocked from your dashboard, though).

-there’s a feature that lets you flag your own posts as nsfw, too, no questions asked. And it lets you decide who can see, comment on, like, and reblog your posts.

-which are very nice steps in the good direction of no more annoying porn bots.

-NESTED COMMENTS

-STRANGERS ACTUALLY COMMENT NICELY ON THE STUFF YOU DO

-I am no longer used to any sort of response to original art, I cannot deal with this sudden attention

-communities to post your stuff to (to reach people more effectively than via tags)

-downside: you cannot post anything to communities without being a permanent member of it. Eg if you painted a picture with, let’s say, an elephant in it, and you want to post it to a community for elephant lovers, you have to follow that community. Even if you actually have no interest in all the other posts in that community. Means if I’m in three art communities, I always see EVERYONE’s posts in that community, even if I don’t follow the individual artists. I won’t be nice about this, just because I’m an artist doesn’t mean that I have any interest in seeing every single person who just learns how to draw on my dash. Honestly. But I also can’t post to these communites to promote my own art without joining the community. So it’s either: nobody sees your art because you’re not in the community, or you spam your own dash with bad beginner’s art, or just generally art that you have no interest in. I mean, okay. I think I see why one would do that. It gives ALL artists equal exposure. It’s fair. It’s nice. But it also means I am forced to waste time by scrolling through posts of beginner’s art that I have no interest in. Please don’t get me started on a discussion that I’m discouraging young artists now, heck no, FOR THE LOVE OF ANYTHING THAT’S HOLY, KEEP DRAWING AND PRACTICING, YOUNG FOLKS. And some day you’ll go places, and be the new Rembrandt. BUT. Just because I highly approve of you doing art doesn’t mean that I consider scrolling through all your practice a good way to spend my time. Period. I mean you can always ignore your dash, but that also means you miss your mutuals’ posts etc. The stuff you actually WANT to see. A feature that let’s you silence communities but still post to them might work; didn’t check whether anybody proposed that option yet

So anyway, make of the way communities work what you will

-definitely a perk, tho: there’s a community for cat pics and one for birds

That sounds a bit salty in places, but I actually really like what the team is doing, and I already feel very cozy on Pillowfort. I’ll definitely keep using it for posting art and blogging, so if you also crave for a blogging platform that works majorly different than Twitter or tumblr, please come join the fun! (either via donation, or wait until the beta phase ends)

Thanks for coming to my talk

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Night of Your Life

Night of Your Life Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender Pairing: Kidge Summary: After swapping funny stories, Keith comes up with an idea of a way to woo Pidge and ask her a very serious question. Though he will need a bit of help from some unexpected - or unwanted - sources. Standard Disclaimer: If you read and enjoy this, please give it a like/ reblog so I know if I should write more. AN: Last request I received a while back! This took a lot longer than I planned to but I’m really pleased with how this turned out! Hopefully everyone else enjoys it as well.

They were on the couch in the lounge, exchanging hilarious moments of embarrassment from their school days, when the subject came up. Keith was resting with his back against the arm closest to him, and his whole body resting sideways on the couch, his legs bent at the knee, with Pidge resting between them and leaning back into him. They had a large, plush throw blanket tugged over them due to the internal air of the ship being cranked up to a higher temperature than usual. The galaxy they were traveling trough’s atmosphere was of a greater temperature than that of Earth or Altea, so the Castle had automatically bumped up the air conditioning to assure the comfort of its denizens; however, after several thousand years without frequent maintenance, the air pumping out was just a tad too cold. Coran was working to fix it for them but they had found ways to cope with the cold until then. Lance was settled down at the other end of the couch with Hunk next to him, both of them still nursing their mugs of pseudo-cocoa that Hunk had prepared for them all. Keith and Pidge had chugged theirs relatively quickly and left their mugs on the table until they were ready to get up from their comfy cocoon.

Lance had just finished regaling them all with his terrible prom night that ended with him being pretty drunk – the fool had actually partaken of the punch – and trying to hit on his 73 year old Chemistry teacher. “See, you’re just making me glad I ditched out on my prom,” Keith laughed lightly.

“Wish I ditched mine,” Pidge laughed, tilting her head back to look at him.

“And what, pray tell, made it bad enough to warrant ditching?” Hunk asked in amusement.

She turned back to face the others and shrugged a bit. “Okay, well, first thing was that I didn’t really have the greatest escort. I went with this kid named Max, who was really nice but also kinda awkward and was, like, fixated on talking about his various health concerns. That wouldn’t have bothered me really, if it felt like he was just saying it as a sort of warning as to what he could or couldn’t do for food before or something but… Any time I tried to change the subject he just brought it back to that. Like, I get it, dude, you’ve got some gnarly athlete’s foot. Don’t know how you do that when you’re on the chess team but whatever. And then, originally they were planning to hold it at this really nice hotel with this kinda cute red carpet slash grand gala theme, but the Student Council accidentally miscalculated how much it would be and didn’t have enough. So then instead they had to hold it at this little bed and breakfast in the next town over with minimal decoration. Oh, and then they also didn’t have enough money for a DJ, so then they had our History teachers Polka band performing live. And let me just say that it’s hard to do a slow-dance or even just… Non-Polka dance moves to Polka music,” She ticked off her fingers as she spoke, laughing and shaking her head a bit.

Lance let out a low whistle. “Man, Pidge, that sounds like a real blast,”

“It was kinda lame and I just felt like it was a waste. I mean, my parents spent good money on the ticket for me and bought me a nice dress and in the end I just really felt like I would have a better time if I’d stayed home. If I stayed home, I could have watched poorly-made monster movies with Matt or something,” She said, reaching up and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

The doors opened suddenly and Coran poked his head in, a meek grin on his features. “Ah, Paladins, wonderful timing! Would it be alright if I borrowed Hunk and Pidge? I may need a little… Assistance with these repairs on the cooling system,” He asked.

Pidge chuckled and gently pulled herself up using Keith’s knees, giving one a little pat before pushing herself completely upright and taking the blanket with her. Keith held up both hands and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You retain heat better than I do. See you later, cuddle bunny,” She said teasingly, sticking her tongue out at him before flouncing off. Or, rather, scuffling off awkwardly since she had turned herself into a multicolored fleece burrito.

Hunk laughed and shrugged lightly at Keith. “You know she’s got those sticky fingers, dude,”

Keith watched them walk off then leaned back against the couch, tilting his head to look to the ceiling as his mind started to race through different thoughts. He and Pidge had been dancing around each other for some time now – it had been a little over a year on his part – and while he wasn’t always the best at reading people, even he wasn’t completely blind. Lingering touches, the way that she would watch his every move, and how she was always the first to jump to his aid during battle spoke to him of something more than just a teammate looking out for him. He was pretty sure that he wasn’t just imaging or reading too much in to it. He wanted to ask her if he was right and, assuming they both felt the same, that she be his girlfriend. He didn’t want to just ask her all flat and outright, though; he wanted it to be something special.

Her story had given him a few ideas, but he was going to need some help.

“Hey, Lance,” He cautioned, dropping his head to look at the other, “how good are you at keeping a secret?”

The other side-eyed him wearily. “That depends… What kind of secret are we talking about here? Are you planning to prank someone? Get revenge for a prank done to you? What are the specifics of the situation that would require secrecy?” He asked, sticking his head up to look around frantically over the top of the couch before leaning a bit closer and lowering his voice. His lips twitched up in a conspiratorial grin. “Because, if you’re looking to pull a fast one on our favorite little Green Bean, I have a few ideas.”

He blinked twice before shaking his head. “No, it’s not a prank, but… It does… Kinda… Involve Pidge? Like, kinda indirectly… Well, no, she’ll be directly involved once I get everything planned and executed but… Well… Yeah?” He questioned, growing a bit meeker as he tried to figure out how to explain it without giving too much detail. Lance’s eyes were blazing with intrigue and he could see the pieces falling together in his head, his grin turning scheming in a very different way; a way that screamed mischief at Keith’s expense.

“Why, Keith, if I didn’t know any better… I might think you were planning something to woo our dear feathered friend,” Lance crooned, looking the part of the cat that swallowed the canary.

“Wha… Pidge doesn’t have feathers, Lance,” He deadpanned, knowing full well why Lance had said it but having no intention of humoring it.

The other smacked his forehead with his hand and groaned. “No, buddy, it’s supposed to be a joke… Like, cause, Pidge sounds like pigeon? And pigeons do have feathers? It’s… I’m trying to do word play here!” He said, dropping his hand to glare slightly at Keith. The other continued to stare at him blankly, either not understanding or choosing not to acknowledge his explanation as far as Lance knew. “You didn’t try to say that you aren’t trying to woo her, though.”

“Of course I didn’t deny that. It’s exactly what I want to do,”

Lance’s eyes practically bugged out at the omission. His expression reminded Keith of the one he’d worn when Pidge revealed that she was actually a girl to the rest of the team. Lance seemed to rebound quickly, though, as he started frantically blinking; well, that or his brain was completely short-circuiting. “Wait, hold up, give me a second,” He said quickly, shaking his head and holding one hand up. He watched as Lance took a few breaths to calm himself, glancing up at Keith with a furrowed brow a few times before resuming his breathing exercise. “So… Just to make sure I’m understanding this correctly… You want to do something to woo Pidge? And by woo, I mean… Romantically impress her to cause her to look at you in a romantic way. Make sense?” He asked, his tone slow and patient.

Keith swallowed down the urge to make some quick retort – he didn’t appreciate being talked down to – and instead nodded. “I want to ask her to be my girlfriend,”

The other boy took one last deep breath before reaching over and throwing an arm over Keith’s shoulder, pulling him close and clapping him on the chest. “Okay, buddy, pal, friendo, let’s get this figured out! Considering you’re you, I’m certain you’re completely useless at this kind of stuff, so I’ll come up with a few ideas and then you can tell me what you th-!”

“I already have an idea,” Keith cut off flatly. He could only take Lance’s well-meaning insults and condescension for so long. “I just need some help figuring out the specifics.”

This caught the other off guard. “You...What did you have in mind?” He quizzed.

“I just thought of it a second ago so it’s still really under-planned, but I was thinking a recreation of prom. Like, we could have something similar to prom but it would be more in line with what would be considered a good prom, to make up for the terrible one she actually attended,” He explained. He quirked an eyebrow when Lance leaned more heavily on him, gawking at Keith as if there was something wrong with him. “… I mean… Unless you think it’s a bad idea?”

“How did you come up with an idea like that when I didn’t? I mean, that’s actually… Really romantic,” He said in shock. He looked like his entire world view had been completely shaken. “I’m supposed to be the romantic, suave, lover boy on this ship! You’re the grubby, aggressive angst-Lord! You can’t pull revelations like this out of the blue on me! It’s absolutely unfair!” He sputtered frantically.

Keith carefully ducked out from under Lance’s arm and made a bee line towards the door. “Forget it. I’ll go ask someone else for help,” He grumbled.

“Wait, dude, come back! I’m just playing around!” He protested, grabbing Keith’s arm before he could walk out. When the other turned to stare at him with indigo eyes shining with a mix of frustration and nervousness, he released his arm and gave him a reassuring smile. “If I don’t give you a hard time it’s just not us, you know? Honestly, it’s a really good idea and I think it could go really well if we put in the time to figure it out. I have no doubt in my mind she’ll be completely swept off her feet.” He encouraged.

He stared at him for a moment longer before a small smile turned up on his lips. “You really think so?”

“If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s matters of the heart,” He said, patting his own chest in emphasis, “and it’s obvious that Pidge has been interested in you for a while now. She gets all mopey every time you head out with the Blade and always heads for the hanger the minute we know when you’ll be back. I think she’s been wanting to talk to you about it, but is either too shy or unsure of when would be the best time to bring it up. It’s not like you two have had a lot of chances to be alone recently, after all.”

The other male felt a faint blush creep to his cheeks at the idea of his feelings being reciprocated. He wasn’t really used to being wanted or cared for like he was with Pidge. He’d noticed some of what Lance had mentioned, but he was always afraid of reading too far into something that wasn’t there. After all, he and Pidge were best friends, so he had considered that being why she was upset to see him go. And she spent so much time working on this or that, the hanger may as well have been her bedroom. “I was always worried I was making assumptions,” He admitted.

Lance snorts and heads back over to the couch, grabbing his tablet off the table and starting it up. “Well, I can guarantee that you weren’t. Now, sit down and let’s get this figured out. I know you just thought this idea up, but were there any ideas you had right away?” He asked, pulling out the stylus and starting to scribble something down on the note-taker application.

He walked back around the couch and sat down, leaning back in to the cushions and humming in thought. “Well, she mentioned liking the theme her school picked out, so I figured that would still be good to use,” He mused.

“So a grand gala theme? That’ll be really intricate, but if you don’t mind me enlisting the other to help, I think we can pull it off,” Lance said, tapping his chin with the end of the stylus.

“As long as it doesn’t get back to Pidge, then they can help. It’d be a lot easier than just the two of us trying to do this ourselves,” He agreed.

The other hummed and started scribbling the information down. “Okay, so we’ve got the theme… For venue, we could probably use -!” Lance was cut off by the emergency alarms going off, sending the room into a flashing array of red. Both he and Keith only flinched and looked up, having grown accustom to the sound after all this time.

“Paladins, to the main deck immediately! We have a dire situation!” Allura called over the intercom. Lance groaned and got up, clicking his tablet off and returning it to the table.

“Okay, we’ve got at least the main idea figured out… We can talk about the rest later, okay?” He asked, flashing him a thumbs up as he darted towards the door backwards.

Keith nodded, fighting down the mild disappointment in his stomach. Hopefully the dire situation wouldn’t be too time-consuming. He wanted to get this all sorted out and start preparing as soon as possible.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

As it turned out, the universe – Zarkon – had other plans for them.

In the weeks to follow his first conversation with Lance, things had been steadily busy and hectic for them all. The Galra had bumped up their aggression with the planets they controlled and Team Voltron was working in overdrive to liberate the planets and save as many innocents as they could. Meanwhile, he’d been called back to the Blade by Kolivan. They received some information that had led them to a Galran spy working within the Coalition, selling out secrets of what their plans were to Galran commanders stationed on the worlds they were visiting. The work was rewarding – the idea of anything happening to Team Voltron because of the filthy weasel had left Keith ready to do more than rough the guy up – but that also left him little time to see the others.

He and Lance had exchanged some messages to finish figuring out some of the details, but they still hadn’t selected a date to put everything in motion.

He was just getting off the ship, the small drive of information clutched safely in her hand, when something wrapped around his shoulders and spun him around. He would have been concerned if he hadn’t seen the familiar tuft of cream-tinted fur at the other end. “Why can’t you ever just say hello like a normal person would, Nihaar?” He asked with a tired sigh.

The female in question laughed and she leaning into his personal space, poking him to the nose with one of pink-padded fingers. “Now where would be the fun in that?” She mused, orange eyes twinkling in mischief. Nihaar was one of the few members of the Blade that seemed to be around Keith’s age group, as well as one of the only females he’d encountered in his time. He knew that she was the part-Galra daughter of one of the senior Blade members; the other part of her lineage belong to a race called Chuewlt. From what he could tell from her explanation and her mixed appearance her mother’s people had been akin to giant, bi-pedal felines, but specifically bigger feral cats. Her lavender fur was off-set nicely by bronze colored spots on her, calling more to mind a leopard than a house cat.

He and she had been at odds initially – she had been jealous of how much time Kolivan spent giving Keith extra help in adjusting to the Blade customs – but soon enough hit it off due to both being outcasts. Despite being in Blade custody since she was a small kit, a lot of the other Blade members found her playful and outgoing behavior exhausting and troublesome. She admitted that she sometimes thought the others would be happy if she was killed in the crossfire of a mission, or taken out in the same attack that ended her mother’s life. Keith, still trying to gather his bearings and tending to deviate from the Blade rules of abandoning teammates, had resonated with that feeling immensely and started seeking her out more often. They sparred together and swapped stories about their respective cultures – Nihaar knew more about Galran customs and helped teach him that, while he shared some of the more entertaining Earthling customers he thought she’d like – and became friends.

She certainly helped to stave off the loneliness that sometimes hit him, so far away from the Castle of Lions.

“Was there something you needed?” He asked calmly as he turned and resumed walking towards the main conference room. Kolivan was most likely waiting for him to deliver the information they’d gathered, like he always did.

She hummed and fell in step beside him, lithe tail flicking back and forth with quick snapping motions. He’d learned to read her tail to know what she was playing at; those motions meant she was keeping something from him and was amused by it. “Not so much me… But more the big boss himself,” She sang.

He tried to keep the grimace from his face. “Kolivan already has another mission for me? I haven’t even been back for a full five minutes,” He asked incredulously.

Nihaar’s grinned widely at him, a knowing glint to her bright eyes. “Oh, I think you’ll be interested in this mission. It’s something a bit more… Relaxing,” She said before darting up ahead of him.

He frowned a bit at the vagueness he’d been given to work with but simply hurried his pace. Maybe he could manage to get enough time to message Lance again about trying to pick a date for his plan.

When he arrived in the main conference room, Kolivan and Nihaar were speaking in hushed tones, both turning to him once he entered; one beaming and smug, the other unreadable and passive. “Ah, Keith, how was your mission?” Kolivan asked, holding one hand out to him expectantly.

“It went as well as to be expected… I returned in one piece, which should speak volumes,” He said, keeping his tone as even as possible. Nihaar shifted and headed toward the other end of the room, starting to click at the computer. “I take it you have another assignment for me, Sir, but I was hoping to speak with you about having a brief reprieve.” He said, turning his attention back to their leader.

“I’m afraid there is no argument to be made, Keith. This assignment is of dire importance and requires your skills in specific,” He said evenly, tucking the small drive into one of the many secret pockets of his coat. He then turned around and approached the computers as well, opening one of the small compartments where spare drives and part were kept and rummaging through a bit.

Keith clenched his fists at his side before taking a steeling breath. “No. Look, I’ve been pretty agreeable about these missions over the last couple of weeks, but I need a break. I have something very important I’m trying to find time to accomplish,” He said, trying to keep his anger under wraps. The situation reminded him too much of when he was at the Garrison – how his protests that Shiro wasn’t dead, that it couldn’t be a pilot error, Shiro was too talented and careful for that to be the case – and his feelings or opinions were always ignored for more “important” matters.

At the Garrison, it was their asinine simulator scores and graduation rates. For Kolivan and the Blade, it was collecting knowledge.

“This mission is more important, Keith,” Kolivan said with finality as he pulled out whatever he had been looking for. He then turned and walked back over to him, Nihaar a few paces behind him and still as giddy as ever. “Nihaar has already programmed the coordinates into a cruiser for the two of you. I expect you’ll both present yourselves as respectable Blade members.” He said, offering the small box to Keith.

He swiped it away with a small growl and popped it open, blinking a bit in surprise. Inside was a shimmering flower with two sets of translucent petals. His first thought was that it was a primrose that had swallowed a tulip; the petals that were reminiscent of a tulip were more inwards, closer to the small  gray bulb in the center. The petals that were similar to a primrose were more along the outside, and were longer and wider than the flower on Earth. He carefully pulled it from the bag and jumped a bit when twin sets of silk-like vines weaved along his fingers and took a firm hold. The outer petals of the flower suddenly shifted, turning a deep and rich red, while the inner flower turned to a bright and sunny yellow. “What in the world is this?” He breathed out quietly, reaching out to tentatively touch the corners of one of the larger petals.

“It is called a Huywaq flower, from the planet of Gupporw; it feeds and reads the emotions of other living creatures and translates them by changing the hue of its petals in accordance,” Kolivan explained evenly. He then cleared his throat and stood a bit straighter. “The vines take a hold of a living creature near by and stay attached to a comfortable but unburdening degree. It should make for a charming… Ah, what was the world Lance used for it?” He asked, pausing to steal a glance at Nihaar.

The younger Galran snorted and rolled her eyes. “A corsage,” She said.

“Ah, yes,” He said, nodding as he looked back at the baffled young man before him, “a corsage. It is customary that the pursuer bring a corsage for the object of their affection when attending one of these Prom ceremonies, yes?”

He blinked a bit then slowly tilted his head. “Wait… Is my mission…?” He trailed, hope and a bit of panic beginning to brew up inside of him. The outer petals of the flower changed to golden yellow color while the inner petals became a more teal-like pigment.

“Nihaar went through the messages between you and Lance while you were on the mission prior this last one,” Kolivan started calmly. The female in question leaned a bit closer to waggle her kitten mittens at Keith, as if to drive the point home. “Courtship is a very serious matter for Galra and I will admit I was a bit distressed to see your assignments have been taking you away from such matters. Nihaar and I got in touch with Lance and the other residents of the Castle of Lions to see if we could help coordinate this ceremony in any way. As such, you and Nihaar shall be leaving here immediately so that you can return to them to participate. I shall allow the two of you to take some time off and will send for you when your presence is necessary.”

He tried to open his mouths a few times to say something but nothing came out. His chest panged with a mix of gratitude and being overwhelmed. He forced himself to fight it back and carefully detached the flower from himself. Once it was settled back in the box, the petals returned to their translucent, glimmering state. “Thank you, both of you,” He said, quickly lifting his head to look between the two.

Kolivan offered him a small smile and dip of the head, while Nihaar looped one of her arms through his and began dragging him towards the exit. “You can thank us by successfully courting the Green Paladin! I’ll be really sore if I spent all this time helping to get this set up only to have you choke when sealing the deal!” She announced, her tone that of a mock-lecture as she dragged him along with her.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

When they arrived at the Castle of Lions, Keith was swept away by a frantic Lance and Hunk. “You were supposed to be here an hour ago! Allura and Nyma are almost done getting Pidge ready, and Matt and the others are almost done setting everything up out in the Grand Hall! We’ll only be able to stall this ‘diplomatic gala’ for so long before she catches wind that there’s something more going on!” Lance huffed at Nihaar, using air quotes where applicable.

Nihaar’s ears twitched downward and she glared, tail snapping side to side like a whip. “I sent word along that we were gonna be fashionably late! Don’t get your teet in a twist!” She growled back, one paw settling on her hip.

“Fashionably late only applies to being tardy by any time that is shorter than fifteen minutes!” He bickered back.

Before either of them could continue their argument Hunk cleared his throat. “Uh, guys, you arguing is just gonna delay things even longer, yeah? Nihaar, thanks for all your help and being Keith’s ride. Allura mentioned having an outfit for you, too. Coran should still be in the Grand Hall; he can help you find where she and the others are at,” He said, offering a smile at the Galra female.

“Thank you, Yellow Paladin! At least someone on your team knows how to express gratitude,” She said with a huff, sticking her tongue out at Lance before flouncing off.

Keith flashed a grateful glance up at Hunk, who responded with a small thumbs up.

Getting dressed was relatively easy, all things said. He wasn’t exactly sure when they’d had time to get tuxedos from Earth or find an intergalactic shop that sold Earth-themed attire, but he was impressed by the lengths they’d all gone to for him. Having never worn a tuxedo before, Hunk and Lance helped him with making sure everything was tucked in and snug, and Hunk showed him and Lance both how to tie their ties properly. Just as they finished, Matt poked his head in, dressed to the nines and hair slicked back. He sent one quick dirty look at the dark haired man before looking at Lance with a more neutral expression. “You three better get it in gear; Pidge is starting to get antsy. If she has to wait much longer I think she’ll just bail out on this all together,” He said evenly.

Lance snorted. “Tell her it’s for the greater good of diplomacy!” He retorted.

Matt sent him a bland look. “When has my sister ever been diplomatic about anything when irritated?”

Before anyone could answer, he was gone again. Keith looked at the other two curiously. “Was I imagining things or did he glare at me?”

“He totally did. I think he’s mad you wanna date his sister and didn’t ask his permission first,” Lance agreed, heading over and opening the door for them.

“I want to date Pidge, not Matt; she can make her own decisions,” He scoffed.

“Yeah, but she’s still his little sister. I mean, speaking as a big brother myself, if a guy wanted to woo one of my sisters… I’d appreciate him at least asking me what I thought would be a good approach,” The other said with a small shrug.

“Don’t take his sulking too seriously though; I mean, he still helped get everything set up,” Hunk pointed out quickly.

The three headed most of the way together, but Keith ended up heading towards the dressing room Pidge and the others were in alone. He looked down at the box with her corsage in his hands and took a deep breath as he lightly knocked on the door. He could hear fast footfalls and Allura’s voice, chiding, “Pidge, please, be patient! We just want to make sure you look perfect for this!” The doors slid open to reveal her in a pink gown with one bedazzled strap and her hair knotted up in an intricate bun, a scowl on her lips and looking ready to unleash a slew of Altean swears. Her disposition brightened immediately. “Ah, excellent timing! Pidge, your escort for the evening is here!” She beamed, stepping aside to reveal him.

His eyes fell to Pidge and immediately he felt like his tongue had suddenly lodged itself effectively into his throat. The dress they’d picked for her was certainly something to behold; a strapless little number with a skirt that went to about her mid thigh. It was a bright jade hue – not quite as bright as the green of her armor but a shade just as eye-catching – with a silver lace floral pattern all along the top half. The lace also seemed to have beads sewn into it, adding an extra little pop as they gleamed slightly in the light. Her hair was tied back in a short braid that rested between her shoulder blades and the only trace of make-up on her was the light shimmer of a pink gloss to her lips.

He was grateful; foundation would have covered up the dotting of freckles along the bridge of her nose, reminiscent to him of a starry sky.

“Keith, you’re here, too?” She asked, surprised, but judging from the smile on her lips as she rose up from the small stool she’d been settled at still thrilled to see him. He forced himself to swallow and nodded meekly as she crossed the room to him. “Huh, I guess it makes sense… They sent you as the Blade representative, I take it?”

He shook his head and carefully tugged the box open. “Sorry, but this isn’t actually a diplomatic thing,” He said, setting the emptied box down on a nearby table. He held the flower in one hand, being careful to keep the vines from wrapping around him instinctively, and took her left hand in his own. He set the flower just above her wrist, watching her intrigue and surprise with a smile of his own, as the flower wrapped around her wrist much like it had to him earlier. Once settled, the petals shimmered and changed; the outer petals becoming the same yellow from before while the inner petals became a rich blue-violet hue. “Ever wanted to attend a space prom?”

She blinked a bit as she looked from him to the flower then beamed happily. The petals changed again – inner petals becoming a more distinctly violet hue while the outer petals became a fetching purple tint – and she nodded. “Sounds like an experience well worth my time,” She hummed, taking his offered arm and letting him lead her down the hall to where the festivities were being held.

As it turned out, things had come together better than he could have imagined.

When they had agreed that they were going with the red carpet/grand gala theme Pidge’s original prom had been aiming for, Lance took it and ran for miles. The grand hall of the castle was always held a mystical feelings to it since the first day they had walked through the doors, but there was something about all the lights being a bit dimmed that made it that much more other-worldly. There were strings of what seemed to be some kind of moss hanging in small loops all along the ceiling, but they seemed to be some kind of bio-luminescent organism with the faint white glow they created. The ceiling of the grand hall had either been opened up some how or was having a projection of the night sky above them, both of the planet’s moons full and adding even more to the shimmering, silver and gold gleam of the dance floor. There was a long table off to the side filled with snacks and beverages – provided by Hunk, almost spiked by Lance, guarded by Shiro – while the DJ booth was settled against the opposite wall, with Beezer happily manning the station and pumping out energetic, dance-worthy beats. The rebels were all dressed and tidied up just the same as Team Voltron and seemed to be having fun themselves, a few of them already out on the dance floor.

He stole a glance at Pidge and grinned at the unadulterated wonder on her face. The outer petals had become a richer, emerald green while the interior petals remained unchanged. “Hopefully you know how to do more than just square-dancing, farm boy,” She said with a teasing laugh.

He laughed back as they made their way down the stairs and towards the dance floor. “I guess you’re going to have to find out, won’t you?”

“And I intend to,” She mused, turning around to face him as they took the floor.

They danced to quite a few songs, mostly with upbeat tempos, and he managed to keep pace with her the whole time. Keith himself only knew the bare bones in regards to dancing while it seemed that Pidge knew a few more complicated ones. He didn’t step on her feet – thankfully – and he picked up the steps himself relatively quick. She grinned up at him, a natural flush on her cheeks from excitement, and she rested her hands on his shoulders. “You’re pretty good at keeping up,” She mused softly, a slower song starting up and the lights of the castle dimming a bit.

“Well, I’ve always been a bit of a quick study,” He said with a small shrug, settling both hands on her hips. It took all his self control to not let his poker face slip to reveal how much that little contact had his heart racing. “So, all in all, how would you rate this experience?”

“Oh, this has been a total blast! I didn’t realize how much I’d been wanting to have a night to just unwind and have some fun,” She giggled happily.

“Then I guess I can chalk tonight off as a roaring success. Hopefully this makes up a little for your past prom experience,” He mused lightly.

She perked up and raised an eyebrow, a sly grin turning up on her lips. “Oh? I had a hunch you had a hand in this little shindig,”

He darted his eyes to the side sheepishly, feeling heat creep up along his cheeks and neck. “Yeah, well… I wanted to make sure you had a better memory tethered to the idea of prom… And, uh, maybe something else in mind, too,” He grew quiet at the last statement, peering over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t twirling right into another pair of dancers. Not that it would be hard to avoid if they were – given their steady but slow pace – but he figured it would probably kill the mood he was trying for. “Look, I’m just gonna be blunt with you, okay?”

“Blunt is kinda your M.O., but continue,” She teased lightly.

“Thanks,” He chuckled as he pulled her a little closer, “but as I was saying, there was more to my plan than just… Well, showing you a nice time was absolutely the goal. You work so hard as both a Paladin and on your personal projects and you deserve to have an evening to just have a nice time. Aside from having a nice night, though, I had kinda wanted ask you if… Maybe, you’d be interested in… Like, going on a date? Or, rather, a couple of dates? And attaching the title of boyfriend-girlfriend to that...” He trailed off, growing more uncomfortable and uneasy as he spoke. Her eyes were trained on him alone, so sharp and bright, and it made his resolve waver.

He noticed in his peripheral vision that the petals of the flower had changed yet again; the outer petals a light pink while the interior ones were a light purple tint.

“Keith Kogane, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” She asked, her tone playful and the light curve of her lips matching. But her eyes were vibrant and warm with another emotion that had his heart skipping beats like a needle on an old record.

“In a way, yes,” He said, trying to coax the same playfulness to his own voice. The effect was lost between his voice cracking at the end as if he was going through puberty all over again.

She hummed and her gaze softened a bit. “It won’t be easy, you know. Between your responsibilities to the Blade and my responsibilities as a Paladin… We’d have to do the long distance thing a lot. And there’s always risks that come with each of our respective duties,” She pointed out, still smiling but a bit more seroius.

Her concerns were absolutely valid and he knew she had a point. “I’d be faithful, and I know you would, too. I’m willing to put in the effort for a shot at something more between us because I believe that you’re worth it. If you think it’d be worth it, then I’d be willing to give it everything I have,” He said, growing more serious himself. A small voice in the back of his mind wondered if Lance had noticed him make his move and told Beezer to keep the music slow, as it shifted to another slower ballad.

She nodded her head a bit, seeming to ponder over his words. Her gaze never faltered from his and slowly she leaned a bit closer, her arms tightening around his neck. “If you hadn’t asked right now, I totally would have cornered you and asked myself, just so you know,” She mused lightly.

“Oh really?” He chuckled lightly, feeling the tension release from him.

“I had a plan, too. I was thinking that a picnic on one of the moons of Arus would be good,” She mused lightly.

“We could always do that still. Kolivan gave me some time off for this prom so I’ll be around for a bit,” He pointed out. While a part of him said that he shouldn’t misuse the time off Kolivan allotted him, another part of him told him to take advantage of the fact his superior had little knowledge of what exactly a prom entailed.

Her grin became a bit more mischievous. “Oh really? Well then, I guess your tail is gonna be all mine until Kolivan whines about needing you back. Hope you’re ready to party with your girlfriend, Kogane,” She purred softly with a grin.

He grinned back and hummed happily, shifting one hand up to offer to her. She took it and let her head settle on his shoulder, releasing a contented sigh. He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “I like the sound of that,” He mused happily, basking in the moment.