#like Allura with short hair

[numerous-bees-in-a-skin-suit]

a little bit of a mini art dump of unfinished things and stuff that isn’t enough to post on its own!! sorry for not posting art in like. forever. time got away from me lmao

[leenfiend]

allura deserved a character building haircut

[discordiansamba]

For the identity crisis AU, do you think their fashion sense changes any?

Oooooh, good question.

Well first off. Hunk's definitely wouldn't. This is because Hunk and Keith have exactly the same fashion sense. Seriously. Look at their outfits side by side. Cropped vests/jackets? Fingerless gloves? Boots? Belts with pouches? Literally the exact same fashion sense.

Lance probably wouldn't change much, but I think he'd develop more of a sense for comfort while still trying not to look like a slob. There's some part of him that wants to start wearing shorts, but he is not listening to that part of him. That's the devil talking. He would not look good in shorts, and he knows this. Stop trying to make him wear shorts, part of him that's Pidge.

Pidge gets a cropped jacket. She sees one at the market and she can't resist. It's got deep pockets- what more could a girl want? The fingerless gloves come after. Also when was anyone going to tell her how convenient having a belt with pouches was? She resists the urge to buy a headband, but it's there. She's not going to say that's the devil talking. That would be a rude thing to say about her friend.

Keith buys a non-cropped jacket and stops wearing the fingerless gloves. God himself could not force him to stop wearing his dad's old belt, though. Everyone's watching him like a hawk to see if he'll cut off the mullet but he just stops cutting his hair instead, which turns out to grow weirdly fast. He gets Allura to teach him how to braid it, which is a very weird bonding experience for her. She'll take it?

[spaceaces00]

Sleep headcanons!

Pidge has SO much shit on their bed and def is used to having a crick in their back

Hunk has pillows (like both for aesthetic and ergonomic)

Keith def wakes up upside down sometimes

Shiro sleeps coffin style but also little spoon

We know Lance has the works but I also think he has seasonal pjs (both festive and j heat/cold)

Allura has a bonnet or general night hair care that she tries to keep up

The mice have their own cute bed and routine with Allura

Every uncle sleeps in like a tshirt and weird shorts so Coran gets the same treatment

I think both Allura and Coran struggled with sleep for a longggg time after waking up in the pods

The team implement sleepovers to hang out more

[alluraaaa]

i do very much like the idea of baby butch lesbian pidge. or futch or however we wanna diagnose what she’s got going on in canon. but i’ve always seen her having a love/hate relationship with her femininity

when she first came out as trans she was veeery little and flocked to femininity like coming home. it was so easy to put on dresses and grow out her hair and play with girl toys. she wanted to!! and katie rolls off the tongue much easier than any other name, but her annoying brother still calls her that old nickname sometimes :/

(but it’s fine. it was pidge from pigeon. it was her first word. for some reason.)

and when she decides to sneak into the garrison detransitioning for the time being made sense. they’re looking out for a girl. with long hair. it’s the best plan she’s got. it’s for her family she can do it. she can do it she can just pick up the scissors… and…

pidge keeps his head down. doesn’t talk much, even to the two (other) guys he’s grouped with. doesn’t talk to them even as they all get launched into space with two more men. just five boys in a giant lion. guys night, right?

but soon enough it gets clear this isn’t temporary. this is real. they’re in this together. they have to mind meld and get along and be on the same wavelength twenty four fucking seven. pidge has to come clean.

so she does. she’s a girl. the name has grown on her but she’s a girl she’s she.

and the team accepts it. loves her regardless. hell, even saw through her botched haircut.

so… yay. she’s a girl and they know. but would they be okay with her being… girly? she’s missed the dresses and the hair and pretty flowers. yeah allura is all those things and they all like her just fine but would it be weird if pidge just suddenly gets girly? she likes the masc look too but damn she misses heels sometimes. she hates having to deal with her shortness

one day allura weasels all of this out of her and allura doesn’t take no for an answer. so pidge is dolled up in one of allura’s best dresses, face beat to the gods, hair done in the girliest style they can manage with her… whole situation. and she’s beaming at her reflection

then allura drags her to dinner, hiking up the skirt so she doesn’t trip over herself as she gets into her seat. pidge toughens up and waits for the laughs to hit her. for someone to assume pidge got roped into this and secretly hates it. the “uhh… who are you and what have you done with pidge?”

but none of that happens. shiro says she looks nice. keith likes the hair. hunk likes the dress. lance demands to get dolled up next.

if anyone notices pidge’s immovable smile for the rest of dinner, they don’t comment on it. and they don’t bat an eye when skirts and dresses make their way into the rotation of pidge’s outfits right alongside her pants and overalls

[quietblueriver]

Dimples, Imodna please ☺️

Thank you so much for the prompt!!

Short thing set after the interaction with Gwendolyn but before the witchy adventure. During their nappy-nap, I believe Ashley called it.

This got angsty, somehow. Laudna-specific angst, not Imodna angst, but still. Know that's probably not what you were shooting for with dimples, and if you wanna drop another prompt, I'll try for something fluffier lol.

-

Laudna stares through the window of their room in Whitestone, hands crossed tightly over her body and bottom lip, already worn ichor-black, trapped between her teeth. 

“Laudna?” 

“Hmmm?” 

No part of her moves and her eyes don’t shift from whatever they see outside, so Imogen is uncertain whether Laudna actually heard her or whether her brain recognized Imogen’s call and responded on reflex, the equivalent of a “pardon me” in the crowded market. 

She steps closer, lets her footsteps be loud and moves a hand to hover near Laudna’s shoulder, tries again. 

“Are you alright?” 

Black eyes do move now, catching sight of Imogen and whatever look is on her face must bring Laudna back to the moment, because she turns her body from the window, hands dropping, and asks, voice concerned, “Alright, darling?” 

Imogen tilts her head and closes the last of the distance between her hand and Laudna’s body, starting with a squeeze of her shoulder and skimming down until she links their fingers. 

“I asked first.” 

A crinkle forms between Laudna’s eyes. 

“Did you? I’m sorry. I’m a bit distracted.” 

Imogen takes another step, putting herself at an angle so that she can see outside the window. Reds and golds bathe the beautiful gardens as the sun sets, and a figure stands silhouetted against a wall of green, arm stretched strangely behind them. 

Imogen blinks, eyes adjusting, and the form becomes Lady Vex’ahlia, a bow in her hand. It hangs at her side as she turns to the massive brown bear that has sprawled out beside her and says something that makes it raise its head, slowly but with purpose. 

They hadn’t seen her at the meeting, earlier, although Imogen knows she’s busy with other things. Political things? She has about a dozen different titles and Lady Allura said something about a council, maybe.

But she's back now, if she was ever gone, stretching her shoulders and raising her arms above her head. Her clothes look familiar, and it takes a moment but Imogen recalls the stories strung along the walls. Vox Machina. New versions, surely, but the Lady looks like she could’ve stepped from one of those panels, proud and hardly aged, the string of her bow pulled taut.

The arrow knocks some small thing from the top of a bench straight into the tree behind it. Imogen wonders whether Lady Vex’ahlia ever wants to put her bow down. What she thinks of when she shoots. Her own scars tingle.

“She’s very beautiful.” 

Laudna’s voice is more subdued than usual, and Imogen aches for her, sees again the heartbreak in her eyes as Gwendolyn recoiled. 

“She is.” Imogen rubs her thumb over Laudna’s knuckles and pulls her eyes away from the Lady of Whitestone and back to her favorite person. “You are, too.” 

The smile she gets is more than a concession but less than the flustered, happy thing that Laudna typically favors when Imogen compliments her. She’s just telling the truth, not fishing, but Laudna’s reaction is a good gauge of her mood, and Imogen closes more of the distance between them in an attempt at comfort. 

“Thank you, darling.” 

“Just tellin’ the truth.” She presses a quick kiss to Laudna’s cheek. “Wanna talk about it?” 

The smile Laudna gives her then is full of fondness, enough to make Imogen’s stomach flutter. Laudna’s hand moves to scratch at the nape of her neck, which she knows Imogen loves, before pulling her closer, and Imogen doesn’t fight it, settles into the crook of Laudna’s neck. 

Laudna strokes at her hair as she speaks, the sharp cut of her jaw moving against Imogen’s temple every now and again with her words.

“Did you notice that Gwedolyn has dimples? She looks so much like her parents. Although I don’t think Lady Vex’ahlia has dimples. Maybe Lord Percival. He doesn’t really smile often, so I suppose it’s hard to know.”

She speaks softly, aimlessly, an unhurried stream of consciousness that feels intimately and beautifully familiar to Imogen.

“She does, though. Gwendolyn. And her smile does look like Lady Vex’ahlia’s. Something about her chin, I think. And both a little mischievous.”

When it’s clear she’s finished for the moment, Imogen says, breath against Laudna’s collarbones, “Yeah. Pretty cute. Think she does a good job keepin’ the Lord and Lady busy.”

She bites her lip, pushes back against Laudna’s hand until they’re face to face again. They’ve talked about it. They’ve talked about it. But Imogen knows that Laudna is still hurting, can’t imagine how it must feel to have Delilah to deal with always, but especially in this place, and then to have her scare a child, hate a child, from Laudna’s own body. It’s too much, and she doesn’t know what to say, but she wants to tell Laudna that she’s here to listen, that it’s okay if she wants to talk more. “Laudna, I know we…” 

At the shake of Laudna’s head, Imogen stops, and when Laudna turns her head back to the window, Imogen’s eyes follow hers, catch on Lady Vex’ahlia bent down over the bear, head pressed to his. Her mind moves immediately and naturally to Laudna’s fingers and their ichor strings dancing Pate through the motions of conversation so many nights before they joined the Hells.   

“There were much prettier girls than me.” A beat. Imogen’s breath sticks in her throat, and she waits, watches as Laudna drifts somewhere Imogen can’t follow. Her eyes stay fixed on the world outside, on Lady Vex’ahlia. I always wanted to be a lady. “They had,” she pauses, adds an aside that seems not to be directed to Imogen or to anyone in particular, “not that I wish it on anyone, of course, but—they had options. There was another girl in my class, Alene. Dark, shiny hair. Tall. She had dimples, like Gwendolyn. Her chin wasn’t quite the same, but…”Her hand comes to her own chin, fingertips coming to rest just under her bottom lip. “She had the nicest dresses. Her parents owned a fabric shop, I think. Or maybe it was the bakery? And a little inn.”

Imogen’s whole body is tense now but she forces herself to relax and keep breathing as naturally as she can, to leave space for Laudna to keep talking. It’s rare, for Laudna to speak about her life as Matilda, her death, like this—voluntary, undirected, without caveats or the shining positivity that dulls the impact of the horrible details. Laudna is thoroughly genuine, but that doesn’t mean she makes every part of herself available, that she doesn’t curate like everyone else. This is something different than a necessary disclosure to the Hells or even a detail given in trust.

This is Laudna on her own, giving Imogen room to be with her, if she’d like. It’s a gift, and Imogen doesn’t want to do anything to stop her, to risk it. If she wants to talk, Imogen wants to listen.

“I think, perhaps, with my parents, with,” a wave of the hand not caught in Imogen’s before it fists in her skirts, a familiar scrunch and release of fabric, “all of it, I was…the easiest option. Less outrage. No outrage,” she finishes with a whisper. 

Imogen wants to wrap her up. She doesn’t. She thinks of Matilda, alone in this place, confused and in pain and imagines wrapping her up instead. She would have been outraged. She’s outraged now. And she thinks, for the thousandth time, that she will kill Delilah Briarwood, and she will enjoy it.

Laudna clears her throat. “Anyway, they must have thought…Well. Even if there were better options, it’s flattering, that anyone would think I look anything like her.”

Laudna is generally too earnest to be wry, but it’s the word that comes to Imogen for the shift in her expression, the half-roll of her eyes and motion of her lips. “Flattering might not be the word,” she breathes to herself before continuing, “I’m nothing like Lady Vex’ahlia. Like any of the de Rolos, really. They’re all so beautiful, and I…”

The hand rises to her hair, but instead of the usual anxious motion, Laudna pulls a lock out in front of her and looks at it, a little lost. Her voice is confused but stitched through with a sadness so profound it takes Imogen's breath away. “I was never beautiful, but now, I…”

Imogen cracks open, overwhelming love and righteous fury and deep desire fighting to escape, to reassure. She beats them back and says nothing, stays quiet and close.

Laudna shakes her head and turns her eyes to the gardens again, and when she speaks, it's low and far away, caught in another life. “There were much prettier girls than me.”

[autisticlancemcclain]

Pidge dreams of a swamp. She wakes up hot and sweaty and miserable. She’s sticky, all over, and especially below the waist. The air smells of iron.

“Oh, fuck,” she mutters, and bursts into tears.

She knew this was coming. She’s fifteen — beyond a late bloomer, really — but some part of her hoped she would hold off on it. Forever, maybe.

Or at least until she’s with her mama again.

She drags herself upright, gagging at the feeling of wet sheets smearing on her bare legs. The smell of blood is almost overwhelming (Lance not moving behind them blasted already barely woke up blood everywhere whole room smells nothing she can do Hunk knocked out covering her six information is vital they can’t pull back nothing she can do Keith scratched to hell lightyears away Red yelling nothing she can do Allura dragged away by the Galra they’re hurting her on the way own splitting the skin nothing she can do her team her friends her family broken and hurting nothing she can do never anything she can do). She shoves her face into her knees, trying to muffle her cries, but they burst out of her, rough and raw and scared and mourning. She chokes on her own sobs, wailing, everything hitting her at once.

Panic that is not her own pushes at the back of her mind, head butting her brain.

Cub, the Green Lion says, distressed. Breathe, cub. Please.

“I want my mom,” Pidge wails. “She’s supposed to be here. She’s supposed to be here!”

I know you do. The Green Lion’s tone is gentler, this time. Less prodding, more…resigned, almost. Pained. I know, Kathleen.

Pidge’s Lion tries to placate her, flooding her brain with comfort and love, but Pidge can feel herself getting hysterical, feel her breathing getting short.

“I wanna go home, I wanna go home, I wanna go home —”

“Pidge?”

The door creaks loudly, making Pidge flinch, and faint light shines into the room. The smell of juniberries pierces through the pungent smell of blood. A soft hand rests on the back of her tangled hair, brushing through the knots.

“Oh, Katie,” Allura sighs. She slides her hand down to Pidge’s shoulder and pulls her close, squeezing her gently. Pidge goes willingly — Allura isn’t her mother, and she’s nothing like her mother, but Allura is sweet and kind and knows everything, and Pidge needs that right now.

“Just take some time, asteraki. We’ll figure it out soon.”

Pidge leans into it. Her lower stomach aches, constantly, and her eyes sting. She still feels sticky and gross. She needs to comfort. She cries until she doesn’t think she can anymore.

“Okay,” Allura says gently, God knows how long later. “Come on up, okay? Let’s go to the washroom. I’ll draw a bath.”

Pidge drags herself out of the bed, stumbling after her. Allura tests the water three times, making sure it’s perfect, and dumps in way too many bubbles. She helps Pidge out of her ruined bottoms, guiding her into the bath. She carefully rubs shampoo into Pidge’s hair, rubbing out the pain in her roots, combing out the tangles.

She says nothing for hours, just quietly helping Pidge put herself back together. She drains the bath when it goes lukewarm, laying out fresh clothes. She strips the sheets, tossing them in a random hamper, and turns over clean ones, guiding Pidge into them.

“Move over,” she says, when Pidge settles into the middle. She glances at Allura in mild surprise, too tired to summon up something more verbal, but complies. To her further surprise Allura scoots in after her, half-reclining against the headboard. She gently tugs Pidge towards her until she gets the hint, leaning against Allura’s chest, gripping her shirt. Allura’s hands slide into her hair again, twisting the wet curls.

“My mom prepared me for my period,” Pidge says quietly.

Allura hums, gesturing for Pidge to continue.

“She told me what supplies to use, what to expect. Very scientific, my mom. But it was just — I don’t know. I wanted her to be there. I wanted to talk to her about it, when it happened.”

“My experience was similar,” Allura says quietly. “I had a — list of letters, from my mother. She knew she was ill, that she wasn’t going to be there for long, so she wrote a series of letters for me for various milestones. I had one for my first period, but it wasn’t…the same.”

Pidge squeezes her hand.

“This no mom shit sucks.”

Allura snorts. “It does.”

Allura keeps her hands clutched with Pidge’s. She holds her tightly, and Pidge doesn’t feel good, but she feels — better.

Big sisters make everythint better, Pidge is learning.

[klanced]

dog au

this is less about designating them as a specific dog breed and more about the Vibes

keith: he’d be one of those dogs that are bred to have a specific job but he’s unemployed (read: house dog) so he just constantly destroys the house and eats the walls. neurotic as fuckkkkkkk. he would calm down if you gave him a sheep or something

allura: one of those dogs that looks like a horse like a greyhound or an afghan hound. if allura was a dog she’d have a long skinny snout and huge soulful eyes that make her look like a prey animal. neurotic as FUCK but she doesn’t eat the walls like keith instead she just micromanages the shit out of her daily walks

shiro: obviously you could type-cast him as one of the Quintessential Japanese Dog Breeds but that’s such low-hanging fruit imo. i do think shiro is one of those dogs that was bred to thrive in subzero temperatures but now he’s forced to live in like san francisco so he constantly suffers from heat exhaustion. he’s still missing one of his front legs in this au idk maybe zarkon hit him with his car or something.

hunk: born to be a teacup dog forced to be Huge. if you compare him in the tags to a golden retriever i will stone you. if hunk was a dog i think he’d be one of those dogs that have beautiful bangs and luscious facial hair like a portuguese water dog. i actually think hunk would have less anxiety if he was a dog

lance: honestly idk what kind of dog lance would be all i can say definitively is that: 1) he’d be one of those dogs with a weird shaped head, and 2) he’d be one of those dogs that were bred to Hunt and Chase. so looooong legs. i also think he would have very short + thin + smooth fur and he wants to be a lap dog so, so, so bad but he unfortunately weighs like 50+ pounds

pidge: i think pidge would be one of those mean as fuck small dogs. like she’s an angel to her family but a total terror at the dog park to the point that you have to walk her at weird hours so there are less dogs around for her to bully. i know pidge is comically short in canon but as a dog i think she’d be a small to medium sized breed. i also think pidge would be some kind of spaniel or one of those dogs that have alarmingly human-like eyes

coran: ok i know i said this wouldn’t be a specific list but coran is CLEARLY some kind of terrier and he is specifically one of those breeds that has glorious muttonchops like an airedale terrier or a scottish terrier. if coran was a dog he’d be the purest kind of purebred with a carefully registered bloodline going back hundreds of generations in scotland

[1800rue]

Lance McClain x Reader: Fluff Alphabet !

gender: gender neutral

type: fluff alphabet by @snk-warriors

characters: lance mcclain

warnings: maybe out of character lance?? this is my first time writing a fluff alphabet :(

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Loves it when you have spa days with him. He does it by himself, of course Allura, Keith, and Pidge joined him in seprate, before he started to date you. Now you're both offical, it's almost everyday you both are seen with face masks, painting nails, doing each others hair, etc. Spends every second he can get with his S/O, not in a.. creepy way, I swear.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Your hair. He may have an eye out for the person's looks, but he's not all into their beauty. He loves to play with your hair, short or long, he'll figure out what to do with it to surpise you.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

He grew up with an insanely large family, he's bound to know how to comfort someone, either that or attempt to calm them down somewhat. If your having a panic attack in particular, he'll take your hands into his and ask you what you feel, look at 5 different objects you see, or take some deep breath through the nose and out the mouth. If you just upset (crying, pouting, etc) he'll cuddle you until you can't physically make a sad face anymore.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Can't say so much. "The simple life" My ass. After the univerese was restored, you both would move in together, he would want kids. Maybe like, 1, or 2 if your both lucky. Adoption or not, he'll be happy with any child. Of course, whatever he daydreams about may or may not become reality without your consent.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

I feel like he be both dom and sub, but too me he's more sub. Anyways- he can take charge in any situation....sometimes. He's not the best leader, but he's not the worst persay.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Hates arguing, with anybody, but he hates arguing with you espicially. He insantly regrets what he's said to you and how he reacted and tries to restore the conflict but taking it slow and gentle after. If he makes you cry durning the argument, he'll cry himself and if you allow him, hold you close and apologize sincearly.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Wants to share everything with you. How can you both be happy together when you hide secrets from each other. But sometimes he's keeping things to himself, like most of his inseurities. He'll eventually tell you once he's ready because he hates keeping thems from you. I also headcanon he's horrible with secrets :/

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Throughout their trip in space and becoming Paladins of Voltron, everyone changed in some sort of way. It's either their looks, or personality. In Lance's case, he's become less childish and more serious. After meeting you, you were able to keep his childself like alive. You both taught each other different, unqiue things together.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

I think he'll get jealous prett easily, but he'll keep it to himself. He see's you with another he'll walm up to you and wherever you are, ask you to spend some time with him. At a ball? "Care for a dance, sweetheart?" In a public area? "Y/N! Help, I can't find the bathroom and those fruit punches were a baaad idea to jug down so quick!" Once you catch on, you'll begin to tease the living shit out of him, his fae turning hot and instantly shuts you up with a kiss and aplogizes.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

He's all talk and sometimes no action when it comes to making the first move. He's great at giving advice, but horrible at doing it himself. He's an...okay of a kisser. I mean, he can be romantic- don't get me wrong- but he'll be nervous at first. He's sweating bullets when your lips made contact with his for the first time. Overtime, he's gotten comfortable with kissing you randomly, and now it's a thing he does. Randomly runs up to you, gives your lips a kiss, and run if he's in a hurry.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

Takes them to their favorite place and does anything they want. Attempts to spoli you or try to show off. If they day goes as planned, he'll confess at the place they had the most fun at. "Y/N, I'm in love with you. I know I say this to a lot of other people, but after meeting you you're all I ever think about! Heh, I-I love you so much it hurts!" did i get to sappy? ehhhhhhh

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

kinda gpot lazy here- He's totally thought about marrying you. Once aged, similar to his confession he would spend the day with you. Take you out to dinner, does any activity you want, whatever it is, he'll have no problems. As long as he see's thar brigth smile on your face, he'll be happy. Proposing? He'll propose in the resteruant.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Sweetheart

Baby

Babe

Mi amor

Mi vida

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

It's kinda obvious he was in love with you. Pidge was the first to notice his stare while you walked them both. Then she notice the drool and used her finger to wipe it when a dissapointed look while he was in the trance. Not everything knew he was in love with you, but he gave some pretty obvious signs. He tried to be with you durning missions, offered to help with repairs on the ship, even thought you know he can't even fix alarm clock, and just tries to impress you.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

HE IS ALL OVER YOU NO LIE! He loves cuddling, private or public doesn't matter to him. You're blushing? Too bad, he'll let go when he's ready. Sometimes he'll like the privacy, but eh- he's not complaning. 100% brags about you in front of the others, he shows you off like a trophy. Even if you do the littlest of things, "Did you guys see the way S/O brushed their teeth?" "Did they juggle while doing so, hmm Lance?" "They looked so cute~". "I've lost my appetite". He's not shy when it comes to kissing anymore. As said before, he was, but now it's something he does to piss you off sometimes.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

He's great as massages. PFFT- random I know, but it does say "random ability" and I headcanon his hands would be warm and smooth. I wouldn't it's a beneficial ability, but it's defiently something you love. After a long day of work, or y'know- protecting the univerese and all that Voltron stuff- you crave for Lance's hands. eh, i read that over and now i'm uncomfy my bad guys :( Favorite places would have to be shoulders and back.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He's a flirt. Everyone who disagrees WATCH FUCKNG VOLTRON YOU LITTLE BI- ahem, anyways he'll 100% attempt to flirt with you whenever he gets the chance. He'll rub his thumb over your lip, pin you to a wall/or floor if traning and give you a shit eating grin. He makes you happy without even trying, he juts makes you laugh for the dumbest reasons. You're also sometimes the only one who laughs at his cheesy jokes, causing him to blush gently and smile. someone help, what does cliché or rather creative mean for this?? am i dumb ;-;

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

He'll 100% support his S/O, if the reasons physically impossible, then he'll be unsure. He'll be critical to his S/O, but not hard to hurt their feelings. With you, he'll support you for anything you do. But if you're saying you need to either get yourself hurt or even killed he's offbored and were making a new plan. But if he's something cute or something to help with the mission. Count him in as well, he'll be with you every step of the way.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

I kinda answered thid already in 'I' but he's totally willing to try new thingd with you if it means having something fun to do and talk about together that nobody will have any context to.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He tries to understand you, but f there's something he doesn't understand, he'll speak up and try to talk with you about the situation. He wants to say he knws you well, but only you can truely know who you are as a person. Not your parents, friends, strangers, lovers, you.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Unsure how to answer this LMAO- but I say he values you alot he's willing to die for you if it means you're going to grow up happy and safe. ... yeah what more should I add :(

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Likes piggyback rides, from anybody. He'll hop on hi's S/O's back and wrap his legs around their torso and arms around their neck gently and ask to carry him to places like a servent. He's just a goffy boy.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

HE LOVES YOUR KISSES AND CUDDLES. He's also great at giving cuddles and and kisses. Sometimes gets whiny and just begs for your kisses and he wont stop until he gets at least one to start his day.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

It's going to take sometime to get over his greif missing you. He just wants to hold you and tell you he loves you and all's going to be okay. He just wants to kiss you and keep you close and listen to your heart beat. made this mostly talk about S/O's death, my bad p2 :/

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

I want to say yes, but they won't be as large as you think. He wants to do anything to make you happy and smile, but he's not a genie, he can't make all your wishes come true no matter how hard he tries. does this make sense???!! yeah, i'm done now :)

@1800rue . 2023

[sevenhoursofblue]

my modern! allura design! finally finished up the short hair piece, in the second, shes in a muscle tee and fiddling w hand wraps, most likely from training or sparring,,, then a full body design of the first outfit and a “formal” outfit. im probably going to keep working on it.

reblogs appreciated! <3

happy pride btw!

[nekomortiz]

I caved and made a Voltron OC. She has like… the most lore/story of any oc ive made this far… 2016 me would be happy.

ANYWAY here’s Kat!

Quick Bio:

- Katarina “Kat” Moreau

- 19 (Season 1) , 20 (Season 6)

- French American (Human)

- Mechanic at the Galaxy Garrison

- Lance is her childhood best friend

When Kat was 10, her and her mother were in a car accident. Kat lost her mom, and her right leg has permanent nerve damage causing her random bouts of pain making her either limp or unable to walk. Since she is short thou, its very easy to carry her around.

She has a Dad and Two older brothers who are all very well known Mechanics in the mechanical field in the Garrison. They were happy when Kat said she wanted to join “The family business” as they call it.

During episode 1, she ran into Lance and Hunk while she was coming back from the kitchen for a late night snack and decided to join them. Since she isn’t a paladin, she uses her Mechanic knowledge to help Allura and Coran fixing things around the castle. Althou, it’s very odd that she can actually hear the lions talking instead of how they normally communicate to the others. Althou it is funny watching her talk to the lions and it basically looks like she’s having a one sided conversation with herself.

During season 3, she was examining a small space gem that the paladins found on one of their missions, trying to figure out what it can do and examining what seems like cosmic energy. Due to a sudden attack on the castle, she ended up accidentally impailing her arm on the gem. But instead of it harming her, it absorbed itself into her body, rewriting her dna and basically turning her into a walking mood ring. Shes still trying to figure her new ‘power’ out and unlocking more of what she’s capeable of.

Later in the series, that weird space gem turned out to be a piece of the same comet the lions were made from.

Her eyes and hair end up exposing her emotions, so she can’t keep them hidden even with keeping a poker face.

The colors & moods are:

- Normal/relaxed: White

- Angry: Red

- Sad: Blue

- Yellow: Joy

- Green: Suprise

- Black: Pure Rage

- Pink: Embarassment/Love

[the-kittens-of-vol-tron]

How do you imagine a scenario plays out in which Keith (most beautiful red boy ❤��❤️❤️) is being flirted with by some aliens, what would Keith do? More importantly what would Lance do 🔫😠💙?

pleASE I lost it over 🔫😠💙

-----

Keith was getting tired of all of these parties he was forced to attend. He knew having allies was important in defeating the Galran empire but no matter how many times he told Allura he wasn't cut out for social situations she told him to just "smile and nod."

So that's what he did. Party after party, event after event he just smiled and nodded. He frankly didn't care what people said to him, the jokes they said to him, he just didn't care.

He took a sip of his drink, he wasn't even sure how to describe the taste of it; kind of fruity but bland. He quickly scanned the room, Shiro was chatting with the council members with Allura and Coran.

Pidge was talking excitedly to the couple of engineers that surrounded them. He had no doubt that were brainstorming how to upgrade their weapon systems or something similar.

Hunk was kept company by a couple of people wearing matching uniforms. Keith had noticed them going in and out of the kitchen, he figured they were chiefs of some sort.

His eyes found the Blue paladin; naturally, he was in his element. The aliens that surrounded him laughed loudly at whatever he was saying. One of them even touched his arm briefly; to which he quickly moved his arm in a polite way. 

Lance met his eyes from across the room, sending him a quick smile that Keith found himself reciprocating.

He wasn't sure what he and Lance were at this point. Keith had kissed him after a particularly rough mission. He didn't really mean to, he didn't even realize he liked Lance like that until Lance didn't come back to the castle.

Blue was knocked offline and Lance couldn't get her back to the castle. Keith found him first and as soon as he saw Lance he just kissed him. Before he could really understand what he just did Lance was kissing him back.

They quickly pulled away as Hunk entered the atmosphere with the yellow lion.

Lance came to Keith's room that night, asking if they could talk about the kiss. They both came to the conclusion that maybe this rivalry was a bit of a cover-up for more intense feelings. Neither of them knew they liked each other past a friendship until they kissed.

So they weren't officially dating but they obviously had feelings for each other. They hadn't told the team yet either, they were still trying to figure out what to do with these feelings.

“Now that is a nice smile if I do say so myself.” A taller alien stepped closer to him. His skin was pastel pink, decorated with gold designs. His eyes were pitch black, and his baby blue color hair was tied up in a braided bun. 

Keith looked at him, “thanks,” and he took another sip of his drink. 

“So red paladin, you don’t seem to be enjoying yourself tonight.”

“Parties aren’t my thing.” 

The alien released a small chuckle, “I can tell.” 

Keith didn’t respond, he just wanted to be left alone. 

“So does the red paladin have a name?” The man asked in a sultry voice. 

Keith cleared his throat, trying to shake the discomfort he was feeling. “Keith.” 

“Keith,” the man repeated it a couple of times, trying to get his tongue used to the name. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Dreknill.” 

Keith fought the urge to roll his eyes, I didn’t ask. “Pleasure.” 

Dreknill kept talking, it was small talk and Keith found himself replying. Not so much out of any interest more because it was passing the time. He wanted to know about Keith's life, what it was like being a paladin, how many planets he had saved, things like that. 

Keith kept his answers short, very aware of how the taller man found every opportunity to step closer to him, touch his shoulder, things of that nature. Keith knew he was flirting with him, he wasn’t that socially obvious. He just didn’t know how to escape the situation he found himself in. 

“Keith, the night is slowly coming to an end.” 

Keith gave a small nod, finally. 

“Would you care to share a dance?” 

Before Keith could turn down his offer, Dreknill's hands were on his lower back, pushing him towards the center of the room. “I-I can’t dance,” Keith tried to turn away but the other man grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to his chest. 

“I guess I’ll have to teach you.” 

Keith frantically looked around the room as Dreknill twirled him around the room. He stumbled a bit under his feet and Dreknill lifted him up slightly, supporting most of his weight. 

Keith held his breath, trying to think of his best route back to his room, or just out of the ballroom. He could tell the song was coming to an end and he silently begged for it to end faster. 

Dreknill stopped twirling him, finally setting him back fully on the ground. “That wasn’t so bad was it?” He gave him a smile. 

“Oh yeah, thanks but I think I’m going to turn in for the night.” 

“Oh but Keith the night is so young! One more dance?” He leaned closer, his lips an inch or so apart from Keith’s. 

Keith‘s mind was in an all-blown panic and he felt himself freeze. Move body! Come on! He could fight the Galra but freeze in this situation? 

“Keith! What are you still doing up, you need your beauty sleep.” A familiar voice rang in his ears, his savior. An arm was wrapped around his waist, pulling him onto his teammate's side. 

Dreknill straightened his back up, “Oh the Blue Paladin.” 

“Please, call me Lance. I don’t mean to interrupt but Keith does have a strict bedtime routine.” 

Dreknill squinted his eyes a bit at Lance, seeming to size him up, his eyes lingering on Lance’s hand on Keith's waist. “I see.” 

Lance flashed him a wide smile, “it was a pleasure to meet you.” 

“I can escort the red paladin back to his room,” Dreknill reached for Keith and Lance tightened his hold on him. 

“Don’t worry. I can take care of him.” Lance looked down at Keith, “ready to leave love?” 

Keith felt himself blushing, nodding a bit at Lance’s words. 

“We both hope you get home okay,” and with that Lance turned around, dragging Keith with him, and quickly left the room. He didn’t stop walking until they were in the space between their bedroom doors. 

Lance dropped the hold he had on Keith. “Sorry, you looked uncomfortable.” 

“It...wasn’t pleasant. Thanks for getting me out of there.” 

Lance gave him a tense nod. 

Keith scanned his face, trying to decipher any emotion he could. “Lance?” 

Lance grabbed his face gently and brought their lips together. 

---

Lance wasn’t really a jealous person. He had his moments, who didn’t? But he had a very small list of things that would actually make him feel jealous. When his mama would call his siblings by his nickname. When his eldest brother got a dog and he didn’t. And apparently seeing Keith be flirted with was another one. 

He had kept his eyes on his fellow teammate the entire night. He wanted to be by him, keeping their shoulders touching, maybe holding his hand, just be close to him. But he knew he needed to mingle, needed to help this alliance go smoothly. Plus he didn’t want to get integrated by the team because they were both suddenly joined at the hip. 

So he chatted with the aliens that surrounded him, quickly dodging their flirting attempts or invitations back to their respective rooms. None of his guests seemed to take offense to his friendly decline which he was grateful for. 

But then that...that guy strolled over to Keith, and Lance told himself to keep breathing, that Keith was just mingling like they all were. But then he put his hand on Keith's arms and Lance almost stormed over to him right then and there. He was stopped by a councilman stepping in front of him, quickly pulling him into a conversation. 

Lance couldn’t keep his eyes off him, he kept nodding his head, giving half-ass responses to whatever the councilman was saying. A tight feeling bloomed in his chest the longer he watched Keith. He knew that they weren’t dating or anything but Lance wished they were. 

He forced himself to remain where he was, forcing his breathing to remain even. Keith did look uncomfortable, he clearly wasn’t enjoying the conversation he was having and Lance did whatever he could to try to end the conversation. 

He managed to slip away as Keith was being twirled on the dance floor, looking too uneasy on his feet. Lance stared at the two, stared specifically at Keith who was nearly being lifted off the ground by the other man. 

Lance couldn’t control himself anymore, he couldn’t stop his advancement toward the two men even if he wanted to. He reached Keith in a couple of strides, immediately pulling him to his side with one arm. “Keith! What are you still doing up, you need your beauty sleep.”

Lance eyes the other man, trying to silently tell him to back off. The man, Lance didn’t care to learn his name, seem to take it as a challenge, which Lance was not going to lose. 

“I can escort the red paladin back to his room,” the man reached for Keith, and Lance tightened his hold on his teammate, silently apologizing for how tightly he was grabbing him. He didn’t want that man to pull Keith out of his grasp. 

“We both hope you get home okay, “ Lance didn’t think he could walk any faster. Each step put him further away from that man. He kept walking till they both reached in-between their rooms. 

Kissing Keith was not something he expected to do tonight, be he felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t. Keith kissed back with a sense of hunger and Lance quickly pushed him back against the wall. 

“Sorry I couldn’t get you out of there sooner. You looked in pain most of the night.” Lance mumbled against the other boy's lips. 

Keith nodded and Lance pulled away, looking into his galaxy eyes. “I guess I don't like when others flirt with you.” 

Keith blushed at the statement, “I only want you flirting with me honestly.” 

Lance grinned, “I’ll make sure to be the only one,” he connected their lips again.

-----

I don’t really know why I went in this direction but why do I do anything?? I guess I just needed some jealous Lance in my life 

I hope you liked it 

Thank you <333333

[findingcrow]

Some Voltron Headcabons for the soul (but it’ll probably be a lot of Pidge) (I will do more of these if ppl like it)

- Pidge roller-skates around the castle. When the others need a tool or something, all they’ll see is Pidge zooming by (and possibly hear a thud if they hit the wall)

- Hunk is basically Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen and he definitely watches Hell’s Kitchen and The Great British Bake Off

- When the group goes anywhere, Shiro holds their stuff like a grandma carrying her kids jackets

- Lance can only run for like 15 seconds before getting out of breath (Pidge and Hunk make fun of him for this)

- Keith will randomly hate something. Anything. Especially if everyone else likes it. He would despise Stranger Things and Melanie Martinez, not because anything is wrong with those things, but because they’re popular.

- Keith gatekeeps (Everyone tries to explain to him what gatekeeping is but he never understands.)

- Pidge sleeps once a week at most and runs purely on energy drinks and steals everyone else’s coffee (considering he’s almost always awake, she’s the best option when people can’t sleep so the rest of them often come to them to hang out)

- Keith, Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all have sleepovers and play Killbot Phantasm 1

- After each battle, Hunk makes a nice meal for the team :)

- Coran watches the paladins and observes them like birds to try and understand humans better (but his assumptions are usually wrong and the next day they’ll see him using a human item/phrase wrong)

- Shiro helps Pidge cut their hair because they discovered that they prefer it short rather than long

- Once Lance accidentally called Pidge “Pigeon” and no one has let either of them live it down

- Following that, Lance stumbles over his words like every other sentence

- Keith loves coconut. Idk he just seems like a coconut guy

- Hunk has snacks in his lion all the time and the paladins will sometimes yell out to him when they’re all traveling for some. He’ll throw it into space and they all race to grab the snack first. Once someone has the snack, he gets out more and makes sure everyone gets some

- Pidge has dirt on EVERYONE. Pidge sees all and hears all and has almost a black market on information between the paladins (Lance and Keith often buy information off of her about each other for the low price of their coffee for the day) (this is often used when birthdays are coming up and it helps Pidge make sure no one gets the same thing) (only problem is that the paladins have a REALLY hard time figuring out what to give him)

- Allura watches My Little Pony and cries at the end of each episode

[kidge-planet]

pidge headcanon!

It was Pidge's birthday and I didn't do nothing... SO I GUESS I CAN WRITE A FEW PIDGE HC!

The Paladins often witnessed arguments among the Holts, especially between Pidge and Matt or Pidge and Colleen. For example, during lunch together, Matt joined them. He teased Pidge by calling her "his little baby tiny sister" and treated her like a baby in front of her friends. Needless to say, he got punched right in the guts. And as she punched him, her parents passed by and screamed in harmony, "KATIE!" In response, she simply raised her shoulder and said, "What? I was simply giving CPR to that old man..."

The Paladins have a group chat, and Pidge frequently sends random pictures and messages because she finds it amusing. It could be a picture of her forehead or something silly like her and Bae Bae covered in mud. Sometimes, she also sends pictures of Matt sleeping, or once, she sent a picture of Matt and her with glittery face masks on (she forced him to do it).

She loves peanut butter so much that as a kid, she used to take the peanut butter pot in her room and to hide it to eat it ENTIRELY at night.

Her biggest fear is her mother... (ironically)

One time, she wanted to make fly a small plane that she had built... She went on the roof to do it. The plane did fly and so did she. (She fell down the roof and lended in a huge bush full of flowers that she was allergic to not a huge allergie, just irritated her skin... Ho! And she broke her arm.) Colleen laughed ( when they were at the hospital and the doctors told her that she was fine!)

Also once, shut down the whole city's wifi... Lance remembers that day very well! (Even tho he didn't know Pidge by the time) he was watching the last episode of his show and suddenly, NO WIFI. If he today learned that it was her fault, he would probably act very dramatically in front of her like: "HOW COULD YOU?!!?" *Falls on the ground dramatically*.

Pidge was always doing risky stuffs and she was always taking Matt with her... They were always getting grounded.

SHE ONCE HAD A BUZZ CUT. BECAUSE SHE PUT GLUE IN HER HAIR. IMPOSSIBLE TO TAKE IT OUT... (She was 4)

Pidge got Baebae for her birthday... They were ALWAYS together... Sleeping together, eating together, BREATHING TOGETHER... Baebae is her best friend.

Well, pet best friend... Before Voltron, Pidge didn't have a lot of friends... I would say she had friends but probably 2 or something... I headcanon that she knew a girl and some times, they would sit and gossip a bit... This is the actual only female friend she had before Allura and they we're doing many stuffs together but then she moved to another country, somewhere.... And then there was a guy... A tall guy and he is probably the gayest man alive🤔 they know each other since kindergarten and their parents are good friends... These are some OCs I have, im maybe going to draw them.

Pidge used to have a crush on a guy guy from the high school's football team... She never told him but it was a quick crush... (She was 11... he was 17.)

She also used to have a crush on Shiro when she was 13... Shiro knew but never told her... (Matt told Shiro lmao).

Pidge loves animals and animals love her. (Her friends call her a Disney princess.........)

Pidge used to enjoy having long nails, that was before war! She now always cut them.

Pidge doesn't have a voluminous breast, but she binds (she started when she had to prentend to be a guy and felt more confortable with her binder and then stopped after the war.)

same as the nails, Pidge loved her long hair! you can see it in episode 5 season 1: when she hcut heer hair, she hesitate and doesn't seem to actually want it... later, she liked her short haircut, but she would always prefer and miss her short hair...

At home, Colleen speaks Italian ( in the Atlas too, which was confusing to the paladins)

tell me if you'd like more of these!!!

[shatterinseconds]

Garrison

Klance AU month ‘23 day 3

“I can’t believe we’re back here,” Lance comments as he and Keith stroll the halls of the Garrison.

Not much has changed in the years since they’ve been gone. The paint is still a cold white, the floor gray. Teachers’ names on the doors might be the only difference in the building but even then, Lance catches sight of a few familiar ones—some he remembers hating with a passion and others who tolerated his boisterous energy.

He and Keith are only back here now because they’re getting married in a few days, and while most of the wedding preparations have been completed ahead of schedule thanks to the combined efforts of his mother, Allura, and Hunk, they decided to take a trip down memory lane. Tomorrow, when they have more daylight, they’ll journey to Keith’s desert shack to see what’s happened to it, if anything is salvageable. Keith is hoping to repair it enough to try to sell it since he won’t be needing it anymore. Lance tried to persuade him to keep it, if he really wants to; they don’t need the money right now. But Keith had been adamant, admitting he wanted to have some money set aside for when they would need a permanent residence on Earth when they’re done with their space adventures. Lance may have cried a little at that.

Keith slips his arm around Lance’s waist when they turn another corner. They have one destination in mind right now and are currently trying to remember where the access to the roof is. “Yeah, it’s crazy to think I always had a crush on you,” Keith says lightly, almost chuckling to himself.

Lance stops short. Caught off guard, Keith stumbles back. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Keith says, mock glaring, and not daring to repeat what he said again. Which is okay because Lance definitely heard it; how could he not?

Still, Lance’s brows furrow while he tries to pick at Keith’s words. “You didn’t even know who I was when we met again while rescuing Shiro. Sorry for not believing you.”

“I knew who you were…” Keith says, trailing off. His gaze drifts off of Lance while mumbling, “I just didn’t know your real name.” He starts to walk away from Lance, as if avoiding the conversation they have to have now, but Lance catches the sudden determined look on Keith’s face. He must have finally remembered something. 

“What!?” Lance exclaims, utterly flabbergasted. He chases after Keith. “I never went by any nickname or anything. Well there was the self proclaimed—”

“Taylor. I thought your name was Taylor,” Keith admits, cutting him off. Well, that is… unexpected. Lance almost laughs, cheeks already hurting at how much he smiles. 

They’ve stopped at a large metal door towards the end of the last hall, a thin window showing the existence of a ladder inside. They’ve found the place. Exclaiming a quick ‘aha!’ under his breath, Keith manages to bypass the control panel lock to the door leading to the roof. The sign on the door says officers only; Lance never took heed of the sign when he was younger and he definitely won’t now.

Lance smirks, humming happily. “Good to know that title really did get around even if it was misinterpreted.” He starts to climb up the ladder after Keith, practically staring at Keith’s butt the entire time. It’s not like he has anywhere else to look. “But I’m a little insulted. I don’t look like a Taylor.” 

Keith rolls his eyes. He grabs onto Lance’s hand as he climbs up the last few rungs and steps onto the flat roof. “How will I ever make it up to you?”

This high up, the desert wind starts to whip around them. Lance cards a hand through his hair to push it off his forehead for a moment. A bit of darkness has already started to descend upon them, the night sky peeking through as the oranges and pinks fade away. How he’s missed this. Of all the planets he’s traveled to and all the sunsets he’s witnessed, Earth’s have remained the most beautiful. He arches his head back to breathe it all in before he turns to Keith with another sharp grin, eyes sparkling. 

“I just have to figure out a way to slip that anecdote into Shiro’s best man speech and we’ll be all set.” With his hand still holding Keith’s, he thumbs the engagement ring on Keith’s finger; a matching one rests on Lance’s own. They had proposed to each other at the same time—well, Lance was technically first—only a few months ago but neither of them wanted a long engagement.

“Wonderful,” Keith says dryly. “But I’m pretty sure half of our guests won’t understand it.”

Lance waves off his concerns and guides Keith down to sit with him on the rather uncomfortable roof. Leaning into Keith, he says, “Pidge and Hunk will love it. So don’t worry, it won’t go to waste.”

Keith presses his nose into Lance’s cheek. With the wind, Keith’s hair tickles his face when it blows around them. “I’m so glad,” he mutters into Lance’s skin. Lance turns until he captures Keith’s mouth with his own as his hand moves to cup Keith’s face.

And they watch the sunset together, like they did so many years ago.

[autisticlancemcclain]

She’s been fine, for this whole time.

Her grief is always a low hum in the back of her mind. Constant. Since the first ring of that phone call to her mother — she knew, before Mom had even picked up, before the phone had finished ringing, her stomach dropped to her toes and took her heart with it — the grief had taken root, making her entire word sharper, a shade of red sliding over her eyes.

She’s heard people describe grief in shades of grey. Heard people talk about how everything goes flat, dull, unimportant, emotionless.

It has never been like that for Pidge.

Her grief made her furious. She knew from the moment her mother let out that first choked sob, turning away from Katie like somehow if she muffled her tears enough she wouldn’t find out what that phone call was saying. Pidge knew from that fucking second that someone had taken half her family away, and she knew the second after that they would pay. The bitterness had bubbled hard and fast in her chest, and she’d moved. Cut her hair and faked her name and lied to her mother. She spoke every word with clenched teeth, tense muscles trembling in rage any time an officer so much as looked at her wrong, so much as whispered the name Holt.

Her grief has never made her dull. Her grief has made her strong, has powered her through the Garrison and space and the Galran Empire. Her grief has powered her through war.

But today, she looks in the mirror, hair shorter than she remembers and poofed around her head, round coke-bottle lenses reflected back at her, and the colour leeches out from the room.

She recognises her reflection.

But she does not recognise herself.

“Pidge? Are you in there, love? You’re tardy for birthday breakfast!”

She doesn’t startle at Allura’s voice. She barely even registers the sound. She stares at herself, unblinking, until her eyes burn.

“Pidge?” Allura calls again, softer this time. “Is everything alright?”

Katie startles herself with her own sob. Her eyes widen, glancing through the mirror at her own mouth, finding it gaping, hearing her lungs gasp out for breath, some kind of gagging noise coming from her throat, tears wetting her cheeks. She feels none of it. It’s like she’s watching it happen to a different person, a different Katie.

The girl in the mirror is completely foreign to her. She doesn’t recognize the creature with eyes like cracked glass, who is choking on her sobs, whose heart is pounding and aching and hurting.

Pidge Gunderson is the mysterious new student at the Garrison, who bears a striking resemblance to the missing-in-action Kerberos Mission cadet with the same short hair and glasses, who is angry and who is tough and who is fearless. Pidge Gunderson is the Paladin of the Green Lion, Protector of Forests and genius hacker, unphased by Zarkon’s fury and unmoved by the constant pain around her.

Pidge Gunderson is nowhere to be found. Instead, in the mirror, is Katie.

Katie Holt is terrified. Katie Holt is aching. Katie Holt is in pain. Katie Holt looks like her mother, broken-hearted and alone at her dinner table, reading the note her daughter left her and sobbing into her hands.

“Oh, Pidge.”

Cool hands touch the back of her neck, the small of her back, and then she’s enveloped in the familiarly foreign smell of sweet juniberries.

Like something in her has cracked, Katie cries in Allura’s hold, great heaving sobs that shake her whole body until she hurts, until she feels like she’s cracking, like she’s splintering along the fragments of her bones, spine cracking in half and splintering her into a thousand pieces. Allura tightens her hold, but Katie is sure that she’s going to fall to pieces anyway, a billion of them, impossible for Allura to hold together.

“It always hurts worse on days like this. I know. I know, asteraki.”

The reminder only makes her sob harder. Of course Allura knows — Allura has lost everything. Everyone she has ever known, every person she loved, her home, the flowers that grew under her window and the the sounds of Altea around her. She has so little left of home.

“It’s not fair,” Katie chokes out, barely making out the words. “I want my mom.” She sobs again, a broken, wailing sound, the sound of the wounded and dying, the sound you would hear with the smell of the freshly turned dirt of a grave. “I want my brother. My dad. I want my family back.”

Allura’s hands shake on the back of Katie’s head. Her voice cracks as she speaks. “Me, too.”

Katie has no idea how long they cry. At some point they slide to the floor, holding onto each other, tears smearing their faces and lungs aching from the pain of their grief. Neither of them moves when their tears run out, eyes dry up, muscles cramped and aching. They sit together, sniffling, holding their grief inches in front of them, stifling in Katie’s small ensuite washroom, crouched in front of the sink.

The sounds of footsteps are quiet, at first. Muffled voices are harder to mistake. The creak of Pidge’s door even more distinctive.

“Gremlin?” Lance calls, softly. A muttered really, Lance? goes ignored. “Everything groovy?”

…Groovy?

Pidge is hurting. Undeniably. But the shock of Lance’s dumbass sentence is so — her laugh is sudden, startling, making a bubble of snot burst out of her nose and setting Allura right off. By the time the rest of the team files into the already-cramped bathroom, it’s to the sight of the Leader of the Coalition and her Green Paladin, eyes red and irritated, cheeks tear-streaked, laughing each other hoarse.

“Sounds like a party,” Shiro says, smiling as he plops down on the floor. The rest of the boys follow, flopping about and elbowing each other several times (with the exception of Coran, who manages to sit quite gracefully).

“A bit of a pity party,” Allura explains, trying to get herself under conte. “We’re laughing now because Pidge snot-bubbled.”

The look on Hunk’s face sets them off again.

“Gross,” he says, but he’s smiling.

“Definitely a little,” Pidge agrees. “Someone pass me some tissue paper?”

Lance, closest to the roll, hesitates. “Do you promise not to throw it at me when you’re done with it? I’ll scream. I don’t care how sad you are.”

Pidge and Allura glance at each other. They could do with seeing Lance screech. A quick look at Keith’s smirk confirms he wouldn’t mind, either.

“Promise,” they both lie at the same time.

Lance, who is chronically trusting and endlessly gullible, passes them both a bunch. They quickly wipe their faces and, without coordinating or anything, pause for just long enough that Lance lets his guard down, then chuck the dirty, snot-filled tissues at him at the same time.

As promised, his shriek is so shrill they actually can’t hear it.

He lunges for the doorway of the bathroom immediately, kicking poor Shiro in the head on his way out, cussing up a storm as he goes. The rest of the team promptly loses their whole shit.

“You shitheads! You gall-brained jackasses! You complete and utter fucking scallywags! I’m returning your fucking birthday present, Pidge, and Allura, I’m keeping the mice forever! I hate you two!”

The mention of her birthday sends a twinge of pain through her chest, but the completely incensed look on Lance’s face is enough to keep it at bay. She hasn’t seen him so mad since she broke his hair straightener right before they had to go to a gala (where Lance was partnered up with Keith, although he’d rather shoot himself in the brain than admit that’s the real reason he was so pissy about it. But Pidge knows. She heard him bitching to Kaltenecker about it, and also she has a fucking working human brain and two eyes that can see, and Lance is not subtle).

“Best birthday present ever,” Pidge sighs, wiping a tear from her eye — a happy one, this time. She considers flicking it at Lance, but holds herself back when she realizes he might return her birthday present for real. Today has been kind of shitty, so far, but not shitty enough to forgo presents.

“What happened, dear?” Coran asks quietly, once they’ve all calmed down (and Lance has convinced him to switch spots so that he’s closest to the exit should any more…incidents occur).

Pidge sullens, a little, glancing down at her knees. It takes her a long moment to speak, but the rest of the team waits patiently for her.

“Matt said he was going to build a working particle accelerator with me on my fifteenth birthday,” she says quietly.

Keith is the first to soften, reaching over and squeezing her hand. “Your dad made a promise too, I’m guessing?”

She thought she was out of tears, but a new one gathers at the corner of her eye, burning a hot trail down to the tip of her nose, dripping onto the tiled floor. It’s so quiet that she can hear it plop.

“Yeah.” She sniffles. “He and Mom —” her voice cracks on her mother’s name, guilt making her stomach clench — “had something planned. They wouldn’t tell me what, just promising that it was going to make me smile for a month.” Her face crumples. “I’ll never know, I guess.”

Allura’s hand finds it’s way back to Katie’s back, rubbing it gently, soothingly.

“You’ll find out,” she assures.

Hunk hums in agreement. “It might take a while, but you’ll find out.”

Pidge wants to fight that, a little. They’ve been in space a whole year now, and she’s found absolutely nothing. Zilch. Not even a single lead that hasn’t been a dead end. Why should she believe them? Why should she believe that anything will be fixed, that her family is anything but dead?

But…they’re all looking at her so lovingly. So supportively. Even Lance, who she just harassed a little. All of them have soft, encouraging smiles on their faces, cramped with her here on the bathroom floor because she couldn’t stand on her own.

“Okay,” she agrees, barely above a decibel, but her team as no trouble hearing her. They all grin at her; Allura’s marks glowing, Coran’s moustache twinkling, Lance’s brown eyes shining, Hunk’s dimples showing, Keith’s crooked incisors peeking out, Shiro’s scar creasing. All of them smiling at her as proudly as they do when they fight off a Galran fleet. Like she is of equal measure to that, to them.

Happy birthday to me, she thinks to herself, and for the first time today she thinks it truly might be.