#now he's got a mullet in both forms. lance wants to cry. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT

[discordiansamba]

I think the thing about Galra prince Keith is that while I think his overall basic facial structure (mostly his overall face shape/jaw structure) still derives mostly from Keith's appearance, he also looks a lot like canon Lotor, complete with the long white hair. He looks like a strong mix of the two, since that's kind of what he is.

I do picture him keeping his hair in braid, instead of just leaving it down- and he definitely has actual bangs, as opposed to Lotor's one fabulous strand of hair that hangs in his face (something it is way too easy to picture someone with Keith's personality getting annoyed at). I think the biggest change is that his eyes are a solid yellow, instead of having pupils.

[makorragal-312]

Void (Part Three)

Here’s the (hopefully) long awaited part three of the Void series. I really hope you guys like it!

Man, was getting permission always this stressful? Lance was currently pacing around the Garrison, avoiding the confused gazes of Garrison personnel and visitors alike. He had just come from his "sit-down" with Coran to get his permission to take out Allura on their date; which had only proven to be one of, if not THE most stressful conversation he has ever had in his entire life. Usually when a guy gets the dad's permission to take out their little girl, there's nothing more than the cold stare, telling him to bring home his little girl by a decent time, and the infamous "if she comes home crying, I'll break your kneecaps" line, or at least something to that effect. He didn't expect to come out of it having to scurry around the Garrison with his head down because of him wearing the equivalent of Altean courtship armor for just a simple date.

And now he found himself here. Aimlessly walking down another hallway in the Garrison to calm his nerves, which was somewhat difficult considering the metal bucket that was weighing down on his head.

"Lance! Are you okay?"

Lance raised his eyes to find Shiro walking towards him holding papers, a look of concern on his face. The red paladin gave him a small, reassuring smile.

"H-hey, Shiro! Don't worry about me! I don't wanna keep you." Shiro stopped in front of him, a smirk making its way on his face.

"Really? Because you look like you want to make a mad dash for the dorms. And besides, I can make some time." Lance sighed. He should've known Shiro would see right through the facade. He was always able to tell when something was wrong with him or anyone else on the team and he never hesitated to stop and listen to anyone's problems. That's what made him great to Lance, and something he definitely missed when Shiro was gone for all that time.

"Yeah. I'm just worried that Coran is gonna kill me if he finds out I took this stuff off." Lance replied. Shiro leaned back and took in the boy's attire. Aside from the VERY visible and VERY mangled bucket, he had on two metal pots that served as shoulder pads, each with a corresponding cape and a link of sausages around his neck. Honestly, it's no wonder why the sharpshooter looked like he wanted to run for the hills.

"I'm guessing this has something to do with Allura? Like a date?" the former paladin inquired. Lance snapped his fingers and pointed at him, signaling that his guess was correct. This caused Shiro to widen his eyes.

"Wait, really?"

"I know. I was shocked, too. But she said yes and we're gonna just go with the flow, y'know?" Lance stated, a blush creeping up on his cheeks as he looked down at the ground. Shiro looked at him, only to feel a tiny ping in his chest. As happy as he was for the red paladin, he couldn't help but be reminded of his brother, the one who had bared his soul and fears to him not too long ago. Who was worried about this kind of development happening. But despite that, his friend was happy and he needed to support him.

"Wow. I'm happy for you, Lance." Shiro finally responded with a small smile. Lance smiled back at him.

"Thanks. At least

someone

has the decency to say that with a straight face!" Lance yelled. Shiro raised an eyebrow in confusion, prompting the red paladin to keep going.

"No, listen! I went to tell Pidge the good news earlier! But guess what? One look at me like this and she was on the floor laughing for a good two minutes! Hell, I could still hear her when I was walking away!"

"Hunk laughed at you, too?"

"No, Hunk was cool. He at least had the decency to try and hold it in and gulp it down and give me some tips." Shiro nodded in acknowledgement. He expected this kind of reaction from Hunk and Pidge, but he knew that they came from a good place and there was no malicious intent behind it. Lance stilled for a moment.

"By the way, where's Keith?" he asked. With everything that had been going on the last couple of months, Lance couldn't even remember the last time he even talked to the aforementioned black paladin. He was still somewhat looking forward to finishing their conversation from several moons ago, but with everything going on with Earth they barely had time to acknowledge it. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if Keith ended up forgetting.

"He said he was going to relax with Cosmo. Knowing him he's probably outside." Shiro answered. Lance, unbeknownst to himself, exhaled in relief.

"Okay. Thanks for listening, Shiro!" Lance said as he began to run past his friend, starting his search for his friend. Shiro smiled and waved at him.

"No problem! Have fun!" the former paladin shouted back. He watched as the Cuban boy ran, attracting more attention from his mere apparel alone. Once he was out of sight, Shiro sighed softly, a conflicted frown on his face. Lance was going to get his happy ending, but at the cost of his brother's own happiness. The captain began his walk to find Iverson, mentally saying a silent prayer along the way.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

It only took a few minutes before Lance was able to spot Keith, atop of the black lion. He was sitting next to Kosmo, staring out at the sunset. Like it was going to be the last time he would ever get to enjoy such a beautiful sight with such content. Lance couldn't help but to stare at his leader in awe, like he shouldn't be disturbed. But given since he was already here, he might as well go all the way. And so he started to climb.

"Man, you can be a real hard guy to find when you wanna be." Lance said, exhausted.

"Hey, Lance. Whoa!"

Through his exhaustion, he was a able to spot Keith's second take at him before looking up at him in utter shock. Slight embarrassment took over Lance as he looked down.

"What are you wearing?" Lance sighed, slowly walking towards the half-Galran and sitting down..

"Coran made it for me for my date with Allura." He heard Keith pause before he went on.

"A date with Allura?" Wow! Well done, Lance." Okay, that was something Lance didn't expect to hear. Sure, Keith isn't the type to tear someone down when they got a sliver of good news, but he usually isn't one to sound so...

happy

about it. The most he would do is just shrug and mutter out a little "Good for you" or "Congratulations" before walking out. The red paladin thought back to the conversation when they were saving Shiro after he crash landed back on Earth.

Oh, wait. I remember you. You're a cargo pilot.

Well, not anymore. I'm fighter class now thanks to you washing out.

Well, congratulations.

"Thanks. But it could be our last. I can't keep all these Altean customs straight." Lance remarked sadly, taking off his heavy metal bucket in the process. He's not going to lie and say he didn't feel any pressure going into this date. This wasn't just any regular girl. This was a princess from another planet. One who he actively died for so that they could have this moment in time. So, naturally, it came with the territory that he had to follow some customs the same way he would've had he still stayed on Earth and never found Shiro. And it didn't really help that he spent all that time trying to get her attention only for her to brush him aside and reject him, even going as far as to fall in love Lotor. But considering that he was now out of the way, Allura finally noticed him. But he couldn't help from asking himself, "Why though?"

Keith saw Lance's internal struggle and tried to form the proper words. As much as the situation itself upset him, he couldn't leave Lance looking and feeling this forlorn about the future.

"Listen, if she's going out with you, it's because she like you. The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you." Keith responds with a smirk. Lance, still looking down, released a slight laugh. Keith felt his chest release at the sight. He was hoping that he hadn't said something to make the object of his affection crawl back into his shell of self doubt, but seeing him smile and laugh relieved him to no end. He watched as Lance raised his head out and looked ahead, savoring the sight of the sunset. The black paladin turned his head in the same direction. He had always been fond of sunsets ever since Shiro came into his life. Every time after they raced each other, they'd just stop and take a moment to watch. And now that Lance was sitting right next to him, it was nothing more than perfect to him.

"You watching the sunset?" Lance asked after a moment.

"Yeah, might be a while before we get to see it again."

"Man, I'm really gonna miss this place." Lance said somberly. It didn't take long for the bittersweet feeling to consume both of the paladins. This was their last day on Earth before they went back up into space to stop Honerva. If they learned anything from their time in space the first time around; it was that even though time in space might be slow, the time on Earth will remain the same. While they hadn't aged (with Keith being a unique exception), their families and loved ones did. There was a good chance that once they came back this time around, their loved ones might be older, or heaven forbid already gone. So they knew they had to get this done as quickly as possible, so that they can come back to making more memories.

"That's why we've gotta end this war." Keith paused, thinking carefully about what to say next.

"And we're gonna do it with the Lance that's the Paladin of the Red Lion, the Lance that's always got my back, and the Lance who knows exactly who he is, and what he's got to offer." Keith finished, turning his head to smile at Lance. The blue paladin paused in surprise of what was just said to him, but smiled soon afterward. A small smirk soon started to grace his features.

"You know what, mullet? You've gotten a bit better at motivating! Normally, you would say that I look flat out ridiculous." Lance joked. Keith rolled his eyes and shoved him, turning his head to the side chuckling. He did think Lance looked ridiculous, but he couldn't help but to find it endearing on how absolutely

done

he looked. How

cute

he looked.

"You do. But I'm just being supportive, I guess." Keith replied honestly. Any other time, Lance would be at least somewhat offended, but at this point he saw how much Keith had changed since he had left the team so he knew he was telling the truth and wasn't being sarcastic. That wouldn't stop him from trying to at least somewhat annoy him. Lance looked past him to look over at Kosmo, who was looking down at the ground.

"Hey, Kosmo? What do you think? I'm as handsome as ever right?" Lance asked in his flirty tone, oblivious to the fact that Keith facepalmed at his question. The space wolf turned his head to the red paladin in intrigue, only to sneeze and teleport back into the Garrison as if the question was never asked. Lance scoffed in fake offense as Keith tilted his head back in laughter.

"Seriously?!

E tu

Kosmo?!" Lance wailed in defeat. He quickly looked back at Keith who was still laughing at the site.

"It wasn't that funny, mullet!" he yelled. Keith's laughs slowly began to die down as he wiped his eyes of possible stray tears, chuckling to himself lowly.

"No. It really was." Lance grabbed the bucket next to him and proceeded to hit Keith in his shoulder repeatedly, not enough to hurt him but to teach him a lesson. Mid-hit, Keith took the bucket from Lance's grasp and placed it back on his head in retaliation, laughing some more. Little did he notice that the Cuban boy had begun staring at him. He couldn't help but to take in the way the half-Galran's shoulders bounced with every chuckle. How he attempted to wipe his bangs out of his face. How much harmony his laugh brought to his ears. How his smil-

"You good?'

Lance was startled out of his stupor with a confused and slightly alarmed Keith staring back at him, his ears slowly starting to turn red. Lance, himself, began to get flustered.

"Y-yeah. Just, um- Man, is it just me or is there some weight on my shoulders?" Lance asked aloud, moving around frantically and trying to lose the collar of his uniform. Keith looked him up and down, scooting a little closer to his flustered comrade.

"I mean, you ARE wearing pots for shoulder pads." Keith stated with amusement. He watched as Lance's eyes widened and looked at his shoulders, almost forgetting that he had them on to begin with. He then watched as Lance began to remove the sausage link and attempt to remove the pots. He succeeded in removing the pot and cape on his left shoulder with ease. But when he attempted to remove the pot form his right shoulder, the handle ended up getting caught on his uniform. In a rather on brand chain of events, the movement of his arm caused the cape that was attached to the pot to fling over his head, blinding him. The red paladin put up a valiant struggle to remove the cape, but alas it was to no avail and proceeded to fall onto his back and squirm in defeat, still struggling. Keith could only look at the scene, utterly dumbfounded. He chuckled before deciding to put Lance out of his humiliating misery.

"Okay. This is just getting sad." Keith chuckled, leaning forward to pull up Lance. He reached over and grabbed the cape off of Lance's head, not realizing how close their faces would be once it got pulled off of him. All Keith could see in this moment was blue.

To say that Lance was also taken aback by this new development was surely an understatement. One minute, he sees nothing but blue cloth on his face and the next he comes into contact with his friend's gleaming purple eyes. Just the sight of them had the Cuban boy entranced. Somehow, he couldn't help but to think back to when they were on that planet after they brought Shiro back. That same sense of tranquility and slowed urgency present as it was back then. Only this time it was different. He knew he didn't have time to savor this. He had things to do, a date to go on, a princess to see. And yet he couldn't bring himself to look away.

"Lance?" Keith asked breathily. Lance leaned in an inch closer to him, as if he wanted to hear him say his voice again. He noticed the way Keith took a quick look as lips before he looked back up and tried to keep his gaze.

"Keith, I-" he started. At least, he

wanted

to.

"I gotta go change." He said finally. He slowly but urgently grabbed the pots, capes, and bucket and stood up, ready to begin his descent down the lion, but not before looking back at Keith.

"Thanks for listening, Keith. It meant a lot." Lance said with a nervous smile. Keith gave him the same smile before looking back out to the sunset, or at least what remained of it. With the bucket filled with pots and capes on his arm, he climbed down. As he went, he began chanting phrases to get him ready for the date before him.

You got this, man! Show her a great time, sharpshooter! Give Allura the time of her life! Get yourself out of these clothes! He's your friend. Right?

[tiny-opal-essence]

Pocket Paladin Chpt 11

2nd mission

Lance pushed the red blanket off of himself as he slowly woke up.  He sat on the edge of the bed as he blinked the sleep from his eyes.  His feet touched the ground.

Wait.  My feet touch the ground?

He opened his eyes in shock and looked around.  The lights weren’t on in the room, so he couldn’t make out all the details of the furniture.  He figured he must have woken up early.  Looking down at himself, he could hardly believe his eyes.

I’m back to normal height!  OMG!  I’ve got to tell the others!

“Hey everyone!  I’m back to norm-” Lance ran into the door.  “Ow.”

Why didn’t that open?  It should open automatically, right?

When Lance’s vision cleared, he realized why it hadn’t opened.  The oversized light switch next to the door gave it away.

Oh, that’s right.  I’m in the dollhouse.

He wasn’t sure if the tears in his eyes were from the physical or emotional pain.

‘You didn’t really expect the spell to wear off that easily, did you?’

I guess not, but it would have been nice.

He heard the bed creak loudly through the wall of the dollhouse.

“Lance?” Keith said groggily.  “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, just bumped my head.” He hissed slightly in pain.

“Are you sure?” The bed continued to creak as Keith sat up.

“Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.  You can go back to sleep.”

“Do you need some ice?”

“Nah, it’s not that bad.”

“It still might be a good idea to look at it, just in case.”

“Fine.” Lance agreed and wiped the tears from his eyes.

Keith slid the wall of the dollhouse away while Lance flipped on the light inside the room.

It’s just plain weird watching an entire wall move away in front of you.

“Do you feel dizzy?” Keith asked as he looked down at Lance.

“No.  My head hurts, but that’s it.”

“Do you have a headache?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, you’re not slurring words and you know who and where you are, so I don’t think you have a concussion.”

“That’s good.”  He paused for a second.  “How come you know how to tell if someone has a concussion?”

It was Keith’s turn to pause.  “Rough childhood.”

Lance could tell that Keith didn’t want to talk about it, so he changed the subject.

“Well, I feel ok and I don’t have a concussion, so let’s just go back to sleep, kay?” He let out a shaky laugh.  “Goodnight!”

“I heard what you said before.  About being back to normal.”  Keith said quietly.

Lance didn’t know if it was just because of being tricked by the dollhouse or if it was everything else that he was trying to hold back and hide from the others, but it all suddenly became too much for him.

“And what about it?” Lance spat out.  “Are you going to make fun of me?  Hey everyone, Lance got tricked by a stupid dollhouse and thought that he was back to normal height!  Let’s all laugh at him!” He could feel the tears forming in his eyes again.  “He’s almost been crushed, stepped on, fallen, and can’t stop thinking about all the other ways he’s almost died and how useless he is!  But even this is a new low!  I mean, tricked by a fancy piece of plastic or whatever this is made of!”  He kicked at the wall and barely held in a cry at the pain.

Yeah, that’s more heavy-duty than plastic.

No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t stop the tears from falling.  He sank down against the dollhouse wall and put his head down in his arms to try to hide them from Keith.

‘Way to lose your cool in front of your crush.  Now what will he think of you?  If there even was a chance that he liked you before it’s definitely gone now.’

Keith didn’t know how to handle this.  He’d never seen Lance this upset.  Should he try to hug him?  How would that work given their current difference in height?  Hand hug?  Maybe just pat him on the back, or tap him on the back?

“Lance?” Keith said softly while hesitatingly reaching towards him.

“Forget I said anything.”  Even though it came out a mumble, Lance’s voice was enough to make Keith’s hand pause a moment before reaching for the red bandana that had been serving as Lance’s blanket.

“Here.” Keith handed it to Lance to dry his eyes.

“Thanks.”

They were both quiet for a moment.

“I’m sorry I’m not good at this whole comforting thing.”

“Really?  I couldn’t tell.” Lance looked up at Keith with a hint of a smile on his face.

“I could go get Hunk for you if you want.”

“You don’t need to do that.  I don’t want to bother him when it’s not a big deal.”

“It kind of sounds like it might be a big deal.”

“I’m just tired.” -of being this small.  Lance rested his chin on his arms.  “I could really go for one of my mom’s hugs right now.”

“I’d give you a hug, but that might squish you.”

“You could just do what I do with the space mice.”

Oh my God, why would I say that?

“Ok.  What do I do?” Keith managed to hide his own internal nervousness.

“Just lay your hand flat on the ground for me.” Lance stood up and stepped onto Keith’s hand.  “Now, lift me up to your chest.” He could hear Keith’s heart beating before he leaned against his chest.  “And then press lightly against me with your other hand.”

Keith somewhat awkwardly brought his other hand to Lance to do just that.

Lance just barely felt his hand behind him.

“You know you can press harder than that, right?  I’m not made of glass.”

“I know, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Believe me, if you were hurting me, I’d let you know.”

Keith pressed a bit harder and Lance let him know when it was good.

Lance could feel how warm Keith was through his pajama shirt.  The warmth surrounding him and the heartbeat in his ear were comforting.  The *bu-bump bu-bump* helped anchor him in the moment.  The sound was loud enough to get rid of almost all of his worries.  He thought he felt Keith’s heart sped up slightly, but it was probably just a trick from his tired brain.

This feels nice.

‘Don’t get used to it.  He’s only doing it because he feels sorry for you.’

I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it while it lasts.

Keith started absentmindedly rubbing Lance on the back and he melted into the embrace.

“Is the bandana working?”

Lance could feel Keith’s chest resonate as he spoke.  It was oddly soothing.

“Much better than whatever came with the doll bed.” Lance smiled slightly.  “I still can’t believe you thought that just that over your face would be a good disguise for rescuing Shiro.  I recognized you from over 50 yards away!”

“How did you recognize me?”

“Dude, you’re the only person I know that has a mullet.  I’d recognize that mullet anywhere.”

“I thought it was a good disguise.”

“Just cause it works in old movies doesn’t mean it works in real life.  It was still cool watching you knock out some of the senior staff, even if you didn’t remember me.”

“I did remember you.  Kind of hard not to with how loud you are.”

“Hey!  I am just the right amount of loud!” Lance looked up at Keith indignantly.

“Ok.” Keith brought his hand up and away from Lance in an ‘ok, you’re right’ motion.  “The reason it seemed like I didn’t remember you is because I thought your name was Taylor and I was confused when you said it was something else.”

“Why would you think my name was Taylor?  I told you right off the bat that ‘the name’s Lance’, remember?”

“You kept saying in class that people called you Taylor cause of how you threaded the needle.”

“The tailor.  Like the person who fixes clothes.”

“…That makes more sense.”

Lance grabbed onto Keith’s pajama shirt with his hands and buried his face into it while trying to stifle his laughter.

“You thought my name was Taylor for two years?  Two years!  Haha.”

“And a few months,” Keith added in the partial year he was in the Garrison.

“Dude, that just makes it worse.  Haha.”

Keith was glad to see Lance smiling again after his outburst, even if it was at his own expense.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.  There’s just a lot on my mind right now.  Sorry I kind of made you hug me.”

“Oh, uh, it’s ok.”

“*Yawn* I know you’re not really the biggest fan of hugs.”

Keith wanted to tell Lance that that wasn’t true, that he did like hugs, he just wasn’t used to them.  But he didn’t.  Instead, he brought Lance back to his room in the dollhouse and reached for the wall to close it.

“Wait!” Lance cried out, causing Keith to pause.  “Can you leave it open?  In case my brain decides to be stupid again?”

“Sure.”

Lance grabbed Keith’s bandana and climbed into his bed.  He pulled the makeshift blanket up to his chin and turned on his side so his back was to Keith.

“Good night, Keith.”

“Night, Lance.”

Lance breathed in the scent of the bandana and smiled slightly.

It smells just like him.

Keith turned out the light in the dollhouse and laid back down in his bed.  He could tell that Lance had fallen back asleep easily.  That was harder for Keith to do.  He laid awake for a while wondering why he couldn’t just tell Lance that he liked hugs.  It doesn’t seem like something that would be hard to say, and yet for him, it was.  He was also wondering why it felt so warm where he had been hugging Lance against his chest.  It was a different kind of warmth than just residual heat, but Keith couldn’t even begin to figure out what it was.  Maybe he should ask Shiro about it.  He’d probably just tell him that he has to figure it out himself or something similar.  It might be better to do that on his own without getting the ‘You are going to do great things one day’ speech.  He fell asleep soon after.

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“What do we know about this planet?” Shiro asked as everyone looked at the projected image.

“Dezevernent was one of the first planets to fall to the Galra Empire.” Coran began to explain.  “It’s people were told that if they went willingly, they would be spared.  They were deceived.  There were no survivors.”

“The Galra have a base here, but our sources show that it hasn’t been used in some time.” Allura pointed to the location on the projection.

“So then why is Lotor there?”  Lance asked from the floating tray.

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Pidge said.

“Does the system say anything else about it?” Hunk wondered.

“It looks like there’s a good-sized forest.  That will give us plenty of cover so we can sneak close to the base and see what’s going on.” Pidge commented.

“It looks pretty thick.  Our lions won’t be able to go through all those trees.  We’ll have to go on foot.” Keith pointed out.

“Meaning, we’ll have to land the castleship on the planet,” Shiro stated.

“If we go over here,” Allura spun the projection to the area she was referring to, “we should be able to land the castle undetected.”

“I’ll send Rover 2.0 ahead to scout out the entrance to the base.  That way we know where Lotor’s crew is.” Pidge said.

“Are the trees really that red?” Lance looked at the pictures that were displayed next to the projected planet.

“Oh yes.  I remember visiting there with my family a few times.” Coran reminisced.  “We always had such a great time camping.  Roland always loved-” There was a faraway look in his eyes as he dropped the end of the sentence.

“Coran?  Are you alright?” Allura asked.

Coran shook himself out of the past.  “I’m alright, Princess.  Please, continue with the briefing.”

“Very well.  Since the trees are so brightly colored, Keith, you’ll be the one that’s able to get closest to plant the tracker on Lotor’s ship.” Allura continued.

“You should wear your jacket too.  It will help you blend in more with the trees.” Lance suggested.

“Good idea, Lance,” Shiro commented.

Lance beamed at the praise from his hero.

Yes!  They liked my idea!

‘Statistically speaking one of your ideas had to be good at some point.’

“Who’s Lance going to be with for this mission?” Pidge asked.

“Well, there’s only three of us that have pockets, and mine somehow got ripped when I did laundry.”  Hunk said.  “That leaves just Keith and Shiro.”

“I’m still…a bit nervous to carry Lance.” Shiro responded.

“I’m cool bringing him with me.” Keith shrugged nonchalantly.

“Wouldn’t that be a bit risky, since you’re the one that’s going to get the closest to Lotor?” Pidge asked.

“I’ll stay far enough away that they won’t notice me.  Or Lance.” Keith responded.  He wanted Lance to come on the mission.  Given his outburst earlier that morning, Lance was feeling like he couldn’t do anything.  Keith wasn’t really good at talking to people, so he couldn’t tell Lance that he was still an important member of the team, but he could show him.  “We all agreed that Lance would be allowed to come on recon missions.”

“True.  It should be alright, but if for the slightest second you think someone’s spotted you, you need to get out of there fast.  We can’t risk a fight when Lance is with us.” Shiro stated.

“This is recon only, so do not engage the enemy.  Keep the comms open and stay out of sight.” Allura added.

“Good luck, paladins,” Coran said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thanks for sticking up for me back there,” Lance said from his spot in Keith’s jacket pocket.

“Don’t mention it.  We all agreed, so that’s what we’re doing.”  Keith hacked away at the red vines as they made their way through the forest, all the while trying to make it a less bumpy ride for Lance.  They were almost at the base.

Lance could tell that Keith was trying, but despite his efforts, it was still a bit bumpy.  He kept slamming into Keith’s chest.

Slamming’s not the right word.  Bumping?  Yeah, bumping!

‘Congratulations, you know words.’

Shut up.

It was different traveling in the jacket pocket vs. the utility belt.  The jacket pocket didn’t have a zipper, so there was plenty of light.  It also made it easier for Lance to poke his head out and see what was going on if he so chose.  He found it was easier to just lay down in the pocket.  The material was softer and more hammock-like.  The pocket rocked slightly with each step Keith took, but all in all, it was preferable to the utility belt.  It was relaxing listening to the *bu-bump bu-bump* in his ear again.

Lance knew the only reason that he got to be in the jacket pocket this time was because the planet was uninhabited.  The jacket pocket gives away that there’s something in it while the utility belt doesn’t, hence why he has to be in the utility belt for inhabited planets.  They don’t want to risk someone getting too curious and seeing Lance while he’s like this.

“We’re almost there.  Is there anything we should be looking out for, Pidge?” Keith asked through the comms.

“Rover 2.0 isn’t picking up anything unusual.  Lotor and Ezor went in the base about 15 dobashes ago and the other three are still guarding the entrance.  You’re on the right track to get to their ship.  Just keep heading southwest and you’ll be there.  I’m going to see if Rover 2.0 can get a closer look.  I’ll let you know if any of them start heading your way.” Pidge replied.

“Sounds good, Pidgeon,” Lance responded.

Sure enough, a minute or so later, they saw Lotor’s ship.  Keith got out the tracking device and checked with Pidge that no one was coming towards the ship.  Once she gave the all clear, he approached the ship.  He found a good place to hide the device and made sure it was attached tight.

“Do you want to activate it?” Keith looked down at Lance.

“Me?” Lance was surprised.

“You’re part of this team, right?”

“Yeah.” Lance climbed onto Keith’s hand.  Keith lifted him up to the tracker and Lance pushed the button on it.  The light turned on to show that it was transmitting.

“Tracker’s on the ship,” Keith told the others through the comms.

“Signal’s coming in strong.  Nice job, Keith.”  Pidge said.

“And Lance,” Hunk added on.

“Thank you, Hunk,” Lance responded as Keith put him back in his pocket.  “Any luck getting Rover 2.0 closer, Pidge?”

“No.  There’s too many vines for him to get close without getting tangled in them.  I can’t get close enough to pick up what they’re saying.”

“What if Keith went closer?  He’s got heightened hearing and blends in more with all this red.” Hunk suggested.

“That could work, but it would be too risky if Lance is with you, Keith. You’d have to drop Lance off with us before you go up there.” Shiro stated.

“We don’t know how long they’re going to be here.  This could be our only chance to find out what they came here for.” Keith argued.

“Would you really be willing to risk Lance’s life for this?” Shiro asked.

“We’re paladins.  We risk our lives so others don’t have to.  And as Keith said, this might be our only chance to learn more.  If they find the tracking device before we figure out what they’re up to, we might not catch up with them again before they put their plan into action.  I’m ok with taking a bit of a risk to avoid that.” Lance responded.

“I don’t like this, but it might be our only option.  *sigh* Very well, but be careful.” Allura warned them.

“When have I ever not been careful?  Don’t answer that sentence, Hunk”

Keith stuck to the edge of the trees as he crept closer to the entrance to the base.  It seemed no one on Lotor’s team had moved from their post.  He crouched down and slowly approached them while remaining hidden and making sure Lance didn’t fall out of his pocket.  As he got closer, he saw that the cat that had been laying down suddenly get up and start walking around the three generals posted outside the entrance.  Soon enough, he could make out what was being said by the three generals.  More accurately, said by the two generals who could speak.  He repeated what he was hearing into the comms.

“How much longer is this going to take?” Zethrid asked.

“Not too much longer,” Axha responded.

“How long does it take to find the plans for whatever superweapon Lotor’s planning to use anyways?”

“It’s a big area to search.  Give them time to find what they’re looking for.”

“I’m itching to do something besides just standing guard.  Why are we even doing this?  There’s no one else here.  This dump’s been abandoned for deca-phoebs.  We could have just split up to get all the pieces of the blueprints.  It’s going to take over a movement to find the rest.”

“Lotor’s instructions were very specific.  We do as he says.”

Kova *meowed* in agreement as Narti picked him up and brought him up to her shoulders.

“Ugggh fine.  Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.” Zethrid grumbled out while keeping a good grip on her weapon.

“You can stop with the theatrics,” Lotor said as he and Ezor emerged from the base.  “We have what we came for.”

And so do we.

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Everyone was once again in the castleship.

“We all heard what they said.  They’re building something.  We need to find out what.” Shiro said.

“It’s too bad they didn’t mention the name of it or what planet they’re going to next.”  Hunk commented.

“That would be too good to be true if they had,” Lance said, poking his head out of Keith’s jacket pocket.

“We still have the tracker.”  Pidge pointed at the dot on the screen before it disappeared.  “We had the tracker.  Dammit!”

“It took them longer to find it than last time,” Keith mentioned.

“Yeah, but they still found it.”

“We’ll send word to our allies to be on the lookout.  If they see anything, they’ll let us know.” Coran stated.

 “For now, let’s keep heading in the same direction Lotor was before we lost the signal,” Allura recommended.

“I’m going to get dinner ready.” Hunk said.

“And in the meantime, I’ll get the game set up,” Pidge said.

“Woo hoo!  Videogame night!” Lance exclaimed from Keith’s pocket.

“Let me guess, another tradition you started while I was gone?” Shiro had a smile on his face.

“We actually consider it a part of training.  Pidge has told me that these games are helpful for hand-eye coordination and improving reflexes, though I’m still getting the hang of them.” Allura explained.

“Sounds like fun.”

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“I believe we can call that a success,” Lotor said.  “Kova served us well as a lookout and Ezor was able to sneak aboard their ship and clone the signature code on the tray while they believed she was in the base with me the entire time.”

“They didn’t even try to hide it.  It was right in the main hallway outside the control room.” Ezor responded with a smug smile.  “I also managed to swipe some treats from their kitchen.”

The others were eating some of said treats.

“These are amazing.” Axha had a rare smile on her face.

“Maybe we should go after the yellow one instead.” Zethrid joked.  “We could force him to make more of these.”

*Meow*

“Yeah, Narti.  I know we need that one for the plan.  I still don’t get what makes him so special.  He’s not much to look at.” Zethrid said.

“Especially now, given his new height,” Ezor added with a laugh.

“All will be revealed in good time.  For now, we should let commander Schurke know that he should be expecting some…guests in his sector.” Lotor smugly responded.

“They certainly won’t be getting a warm welcome from him,” Axha stated.

“Oh, I see what you did there, Axha.  That’s clever.” Ezor commented.

“Babe, you’ve got Schokolade on your face,” Zethrid said.

“Where?”

Zethrid kissed Ezor on the lips.  “There.  Got it.”

“I don’t know, I think you might have missed some.” Ezor looked up at Zethrid with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“Do keep in mind that we all use this space.” Lotor reminded them.

“We know.  Bedroom activities stay in the bedroom.”

“We’ll be back.” Zethrid grabbed Ezor’s hand and a handful of cookies before they left the room.

Narti grabbed another cookie for herself before turning back to the screen in front of her.  She zoomed in on the camera feed that the paladins were in.  Kova curled up next to the keyboard and she rubbed behind his ears, causing him to start *purring*.

“Let’s see if we can learn something from this videogame night of theirs,” Lotor commented.

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“Dinner is served.” Hunk came into the lounge followed by a floating tray.

Lance could see that Hunk had brought the doll-sized table and chairs for him and the space mice.  He also saw what food was on the tray.

“*gasp* Are those…”

“Garlic knots?  Yep.  Well, closest I can get to them.  I figured pizza and garlic knots would be good for videogame night.” Hunk responded as he set up the doll furniture on Lance’s tray.

“You got that right!  Hand ‘em over!”

“Pidge.” Shiro used his space-dad voice.

“Uggh.  Please hand ‘em over.”

Hunk divvied out the pizza and garlic knots, including mini ones for Lance and the space mice.  It was thin crust, but it looked more like deep dish from Lance’s perspective.  He wasn’t complaining.  It was better than having to practically unhinge his jaw to take a bite of a normal slice.  The garlic knots were also a bit bigger he was used to, but hey, that just means more for him.

Allura and Coran had pulled up a counter out of the floor so everyone could put their plates down.  Also, so Lance’s tray could rest on there instead of awkwardly floating around.

Lance and the space mice took their seats between Keith and Hunk.  It was nice to have something that was more to their scale, though Platt was too tall for the doll chair, so he just sat on the ground.

“Did you guys do anything fun today while we were on the mission?” Lance asked the space mice.

Most of the mice nodded, while Plachule shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.  Chulatt started *squeaking* excitedly and gesturing too fast for Lance to understand.

“I didn’t quite catch that, Chulatt.  Could you repeat it, just a bit slower?”

“He says that they worked some more on their routine.” Allura translated before Chulatt had a chance to *squeak* again.

“Routine?” Pidge asked.

“Oh, I don’t believe I told you.  The space mice have a little show they’ve been putting together, with tightropes, trapeze, and such.”  Allura explained.

“Like a circus?” Keith questioned.

“What’s a circus?” Coran asked.

“It’s basically everything Allura said, but with people instead of space mice,” Shiro stated.

“Circus.  I like that word.” Coran said.

“A space mice circus would be so cute!” Hunk exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Lance said.

“Maybe Lance could join them while he’s like this,” Pidge suggested.

“Aww, that’d be adorable!” Hunk commented.

Not exactly the word I would use.  No offense meant to the space mice.

‘But you would be so cute, just like a pet doing tricks.’

I’m not a pet!  Don’t you have anything actually important to do?

‘Don’t you?’

Everyone finished their food and Pidge started getting the game system set up.

“I’m going to go work on some repairs,” Coran said.  “I could use some help from the space mice if they’d like.”

The space mice nodded that they were ok with it.

“What needs fixing?” Lance asked.

“Oh, just some pipes.  There have been some unexplained sounds coming out of them.  It shouldn’t take too long.  Be back in a jiffy!”  Coran and the space mice left to go take care of that.

“We only have 4 controllers, so we have to rotate people in,” Pidge explained while the Smash Bros loading screen popped up.

“Sounds good,”  Shiro commented.

“I’ll sit out this round.  I’ve got to bring the dishes back to the kitchen anyway.” Hunk started gathering the dishes.

“Me too,”  Shiro said.  “It’s been a while since I played.”

“Alright everyone, choose your fighters.”  Pidge moved her cursor to select Shamus.

Allura chose Zelda and Keith chose Fox.

Lance grabbed the joystick and moved it over the characters.

Good thing I got some practice with this thing on the floating tray.

He hovered it over Kirby and reached over to select him but found that he couldn’t quite reach the buttons on the controller.  He took a few steps to the right and hit the button.

Their characters popped up in Dream Land.  The countdown began, and everyone got ready.  Once it finished, everyone started attacking each other except Lance.  Due to his height, he couldn’t move Kirby with the joystick and attack at the same time.

Just my luck.

It wasn’t long before Pidge was able to launch him off the stage.  He tried to use some of Kirby’s moves to get back on it, but that was the moment the tree decided to start blowing some wind in his direction.

“Oh come on!”

“Don’t be a sore loser, Lance.”

“Who you calling a loser?  I’ve still got three lives.  You’re going down, Pidge.”

“Bring it.”

Zelda had managed to knock Fox off the stage during that time.

“Nice, Allura.  You’ve gotten better.” Keith said.

“Not as good as me, though,” Pidge said as Shamus hit Zelda off stage.

Lance was trying to find a way to reach both the joystick and buttons.

Maybe if I lay down on the controller, I can move the joystick with my legs and hit the buttons with my hands.  Yeah, that’ll work.

Lance found he could just barely touch the joystick with his toes and reach the farthest of the four buttons.  Kirby popped back on the stage and used his ability on Shamus.

“Got you, Pidge!”

“Not for long,” Keith said as Fox was able to knock Kirby and Shamus both off the stage.  Pidge was able to get Shamus back on solid ground, but Lance couldn’t get to the joystick in time and lost Kirby’s second life.

“Dang it!”

“You’re going to pay for that, Keith.” Shamus began going crazy with attacks on Fox before he was launched once more off the stage.

“How are you this good, Pidge?” Lance asked as he waited for Kirby to pop up once more.

“If you think she’s good, you should see Matt play.  He wipes the floor with her.” Shiro commented with a smile.

Pidge looked over at him incredulously, which gave Allura the opportunity to have Zelda knock Shamus off the stage.

“That doesn’t count!  Shiro distracted me!”

“I saw that, and it definitely counts.” Hunk said as he came back into the lounge.

“Yeah, don’t be a sore loser, Pidge.” Lance taunted her.  As he looked towards her, Kirby popped back on stage and was being pushed back towards the edge by the tree.  He quickly looked back and tried to get to the joystick but wasn’t fast enough once more.

“Why does this keep happening?  I swear that tree is out to get me!” Lance hit the controller with his fists in frustration.

The others were starting to realize how much of a challenge playing the game at his new height was for Lance.  They felt bad that they hadn’t noticed it earlier.

When Kirby popped up for the last time, Fox was right next to him.  Kirby hit Fox repeatedly.  Lance noticed that Keith wasn’t hitting back.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?”

“Uh, well, you’re not doing so great.”

“Well, neither are you.  Don’t go easy on me.”

I don’t want your pity.

“Fine by me,” Pidge said as she once again knocked Kirby off the stage one last time.

With that, the game was down to only three players.  Then two as Allura was taken down.  In the end, Pidge was the winner.

Lance looked at his stats and was disappointed.

I didn’t get a single KO?  I thought I would do better than that.

‘Look at that.  You can’t even play a simple game.  What use could you possibly have to the team?’

Hey, I helped on the mission today!

‘Oh yeah, cause riding in someone’s pocket and pushing a button is so helpful.  It’s not like he could have done that without you or anything.’

“Maybe we should do a movie night instead of this.” Hunk suggested.

“What?  Why?” Lance asked.

“Well, this is presenting a…unique challenge for you,”  Allura said.

“But Hunk and Shiro haven’t had a chance to play yet.  That’s not fair to them.”

“But it isn’t really fair to you if you can’t participate,”  Shiro mentioned.

“Please don’t stop on my account.  I can just sit out and be moral support.  It’s fine.”

“If you’re sure…” Hunk started.

“I’m sure.  You should play.” Lance gestured for Hunk to grab the controller from in front of him.

“I’ll sit out too.”  Keith handed his controller to Shiro.  “Then Hunk and Shiro can both play.”

Hunk selected Pikachu and Shiro chose Link.

While the second round was going on, Keith was thinking.  It really wasn’t fair that Lance couldn’t play the game just cause he couldn’t reach the buttons and the joystick at the same time…at the same time…maybe…

Pidge was the winner of the second round, as per usual.

“Who’s switching with Keith?” Shiro asked.

“I think it might be time for someone to win besides Pidge,” Allura commented.

“Actually,” Keith interjected, “I think I figured out a way for Lance to play.”

“But he can’t reach all the buttons.  No offense, Lance.” Pidge said.

“None taken.”

“You’re right.  He can’t reach all the buttons-” Keith started.

Hey!

“-but he can reach half of them.”

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked.

“Well, maybe Lance could team up with someone and only use half of the controller while they used the other.”

“That…actually could work,”  Shiro responded.

“But there would still be a slight disadvantage with them having to say what they’re planning to do out loud.” Pidge pointed out.

“Well, then maybe we should do that everyone pairs up to use only half a controller each, that way it’s fair,” Allura suggested.

“Then we all can play at the same time!” Lance exclaimed.

“I’m down.” Hunk said and everyone voiced their agreement.

“Alright, this round’s teams are Hunk and Pidge, Keith and Lance, and me and Allura.”

Pidge and Hunk chose Shamus.  Allura and Shiro talked shortly before deciding to go with Sheik.  Lance and Keith took a little longer in their decision.

“Why would you want to be Kirby?  Fox is so much cooler.” Keith said.

“Kirby’s shaped like a friend!  He’s adorable!”

“Oh yeah, cause that’s totally useful in a fight.”

“Not with that attitude!”

“GUYS!” Pidge yelled.  “Just pick someone already.  I want another chance to kick your butts.”

They compromised on Meta Knight.  Lance was in charge of the buttons, Keith the joystick.  It was different playing this way, but fun.  Lance was just glad that he could participate like this.

The round was finished with Lance and Keith as the winners.

“What?  Re-do.  There’s no way I lost to you guys.  I kicked both of your butts in the first round.” Pidge said.

“Yeah, but with us working together, we took you down.  Team Klance for the win!” Lance exclaimed.

“Klance?”

“You know, Keith and Lance.  Klance.  It’s both of our names smashed together.”

“Oh.”

“Well, team Punk’s going to kick your butts in the next round,” Pidge claimed.

“I thought we could be team Hidge since punk’s already a thing.”

“What would ours be?  Shallura?  Alliro?” Allura asked.

“I like Shallura,” Shiro said.

“Or you guys could just be Space-parents,” Lance said jokingly.

“Alright, because of that line, you guys are going down in this next round,” Shiro stated.

“Bring it, Space-dad,” Keith said with a small smile.

They played the game through the night, unaware of the danger they were approaching.

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Realities without Lance: 95 (+11)

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[b-kitsune]

Many ways to say I love you: Day Seventeen.

Kidge-a-palooza 2019 Prompt: Gamble. Pairing: Kidge (VLD) Universe: Garrison AU. Status: Part ¾

It was the third time this week that her mother told her how wonderful was the show that Matt had prepared for Shiro a few weeks ago in Garrison, to finally commit himself after many years of courtship. It was nice and kind of lovely to see her mother so excited about the wedding planning to take place in six more months, and her father couldn't be prouder of the person Matt had chosen to live the rest of his life. Pidge frankly at that point, she was up to the top with the story.

At first, Pidge was excited when she had heard it the first ten times after arriving from a diplomatic mission from the planet Daibazaal with Keith and his mother. It had come as a surprise to everyone because her brother had kept it a secret very well, and with a pretty clever idea, even for him. Who after a private celebration in the headquarters where the high officials were enjoying a nice dinner after a strenuous semester, including her father, Matt had taken Shiro to the area where the central building could be seen completely. When the minutes passed, at exactly midnight Matt closed his eyes to Shiro to direct him to the desired place, where the lights of the building were switched on alternately to showing the words ''marry me'' in high.

It had been a risky proposition, given that Shiro preferred reserved and rather private gestures, but during the commotion and seeing Matt kneeling and holding a tiny box with a ring in the middle, Shiro couldn't help but accept between tears and laughter in happiness to the proposition of Matt, who was also to tears when he saw Shiro take the ring between his fingers. It hadn't been random; Matt had decided to do it at that time because midnight would be ten years from the Kerberos mission. The first time they both traveled into space and began to open up through a relationship beyond friendship.

Some people changed some parts of the story by saying that Matt had started crying since he had knelt, to Pidge's amusement.

Everyone had seen it and many agreed that it had been a pretty nice show to see how the lights were playing around the letters that were programmed to light at the desired time while congratulating them for deciding to formalize a relationship that had been developing for years.

Even Lance and Hunk had agreed that it was a pretty charming gesture to commit. Pidge could understand it.

But her mother was being exaggeratedly insistent with the subject. Especially that morning.

''Mom, I heard you the first few times since I got to earth, could you talk about something else?'' Colleen looked at her questioningly when she handed a piece of toast to Bae Bae, who was under the table.

''Sure ... Something interesting that has happened in your relationship, Katie?''

''No?'' She answered uncertainly. ''You know, nothing new. Keith will be leaving for a few months on a trip with the intergalactic coalition to investigate Balmera's robberies by space pirates. He will return before his birthday.''

''You mean that nothing has progressed? Nothing new?''

''What do you mean by that?'' Pidge asked sternly. Now she understood her mother's insistence on the marriage between Shiro and Matt.

''Oh nothing, you know ... You have been together for so long and many would think that you should begin to formalize a little more your adolescent relationship.''

''Our relationship is perfect as it is, thank you very much.'' Pidge replied annoyed. ''Besides, who is saying that?''

''Me, of course.''

''Then it's not important.''

''Katie...'' Colleen's tone made Pidge immediately regret getting up to end the conversation. Her mother, however, only sighed tiredly after a few seconds in silence. ''I don't want you to think I'm meddling in your relationship with Keith ... But it looks like they're not going anywhere, you know? You should think a bit about that.''

Pidge chose to briefly chew on what Colleen was trying to tell her, then say goodbye with a brief kiss on her cheek and take her keys to go to work. She had to give a class in an hour and she couldn't spend time thinking about things that had no meaning or answer.

Not that Pidge hadn't thought of it before. Although her relationship with Keith had lasted various years and they were on excellent terms with their friends and family, she didn't see a future if there were forced to change certain things.

While the marriage rate on earth was extremely low after the integration into the galactic coalition many centuries ago, and many people preferred to leave it as a legislative option before something they really needed for their relationship. Pidge and Matt had the fortune to grow up with parents who loved each other deeply even after many years, so both of them thought that getting married was also part of their life goals when they fulfilled their personal goals. It's not something they said openly, but it was something they craved.

Pidge after knowing about her brother's commitment was really happy for him because Shiro was an amazing person, but at the bottom of her heart, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Maybe her mother had noticed her at some point.

She desired in some future to live in a house next to the person she loved. Share a space that they could order as they wish, accompany themselves while they were growing as people. With all the good and bad that entailed. And maybe, if in the future situations occurred and she felt prepared, having a child wouldn't be something really bad for her. Pidge felt capable of anything, and over the years was able to prove it not only in the world, but the entire universe that she didn't know the limits of the impossible.

But Katie wasn't able to see all that future with Keith.

She had never asked, perhaps out of fear or denial, but she was almost 84.8% sure that Keith didn't want to form a home or a family given his instinctive nature. He was a man of stars, not a person who wanted to get stuck in one place, much less have children.

And that was something that would surely end their relationship at some point.

She pressed hard on her computer to close it and rest her eyes on her current investigation, sighing heavily. She didn't like to think about those things.

''Pidge, is everything okay?'' She looked up to see Hunk approaching her with folded arms, Pidge buzzing affirmatively.

''Yeah, it's just that this code has been giving me problems.'' Lied. Hunk laughed with an incredulous look.

''That's impossible, no code gives you problems.''

''Well, I've been a little tired since my mom has been screaming all day about my brother's wedding.''

''Ahh that's in a few months, I wonder what kind of snacks there will be in the catering.''

Pidge smiled when she made her way to the coffee shop to prepare a coffee while taking a break. Being followed by Hunk who talked animatedly about various types of food that could be accompanied between Italian and Japanese culture.

''It's a misfortune that they will not leave you as a chef in the banqueter’s area.''

''Yeah, I know. But I should have been in charge of the kitchen instead of enjoying the marriage with all of you. That's why Matt and Shiro didn't ask me, although they did ask me for some suggestions for the main courses.''

''That's something.''

Before Hunk could answer, they could hear roars around the corridors and unmistakable voices that made them react with a strong migraine. The people around were afraid to be dragged into the apparent struggle they were having before entering the room with such force that Iverson hit them on the head to stop their discussion.

Lance and Keith nodded reluctantly when they approached Hunk and Pidge who did their best not to laugh at the situation. Or they would start again.

Hunk hit Pidge's shoulder to get her attention.

''I'm afraid to ask at this point what the fight started, but...''

''Surely it will be something stupid.'' Added Allura, who had seen the whole thing in silence when she walked towards them. ''Can you behave like normal adults for a day? You are diplomats and part of the armament that cares for the welfare and peace in the universe, for the ancients!''

''Keith was the one who started!''

''There they go again...''

Pidge commented exhausted as she saw them again arguing for reasons that no one in the room could understand. Although surely it wouldn't make much sense to try to do it. Lance liked to press Keith's buttons whenever he could, and Keith thanks to his competitive personality always ended up falling to Lance's provocations.

And her mother wanted to commit soon to someone like him?

Again, a painful twinge dug into Pidge's chest when she remembered what she was trying to avoid all morning. Calling the attention of Allura while Hunk tried to mediate a little the discussion of both.

''You're okay? You look a little sad...''

''It must just work stress.'' She replied when she averted her eyes slightly. Keith watched her intrigued.

''Did something happen?''

Pidge could answer anything and they would be kind to make her think they believed her until she was prepared to talk. But when she could see standing in front of her, while smiling so warmly. Something in her mind didn't let her take out a single word.

She was silent for too long. Until Lance huffed exaggeratedly causing Keith's eyebrow to contract with discomfort.

''Then I was right? It seems that your courtship is not as you thought.''

''Lance, I warn you.'' Keith's growl came from his stomach, rumbling in the entire room.

''What are you supposed to be talking about?'' Asked Allura trying to stop a future discussion.

''Nothing.'' Keith replied before Lance could say anything. ''I'm sure I could get my answer long before you, Lancey Lance.'' A cheeky smile emerged on both their lips.

''So, it was a bet?'' Pidge said, to which Lance shook his head slowly.

''It is rather a very interesting gamble that we both need to carry out. I hope you have the balls to not retract, mullet.''

''Same for you!''

The others lost the sense of conversation after they saw them return to the hangar of the fighter jets with a determined look and the fire that twitched around them.

Pidge preferred to go back to work, she had enough with one problem a day.

 ...

 ''You know? I thought you were too busy mocking Lance to ask us out.''

Keith stopped in front of the viewpoint they had visited after eating some hamburgers at the nearest McDonald's they found after leaving work. If there was something they both enjoyed very much, it was junk food before any elegant dinner. Maybe they would have to tell Lance that that wasn't the rule of all the appointments the next time he tried to invite Allura to dinner around.

Pidge kept a distance from Keith, not approaching him even though she was shivering cold under her jacket. She had decided to end their relationship that night before Keith left for an exploration to a distant galaxy and she had to wait for months. Again.

Keith swallowed hard before speaking.

''Yeah well, I wasn't going to waste my last day on earth with something like that, when I could spend that time with you.''

He took her hand even if she didn't make any move to get it out of the way, or reciprocate. Making her look directly into his eyes. In front of Pidge was the dark violet she had loved so much since she was a teenager.

''I brought you here to talk about something.''

''Is it about your trip?'' Pidge asked, Keith, shook his head, a little nervous at what he would do. ''So?''

''I ... I've been thinking a lot about this since we came to earth. When we heard that Shiro and Matt were engaged...'' Pidge opened her eyes in surprise at the mention of her brother's marriage. Giving him time to keep talking. ''I know that neither of us likes these exhibitionist things but ... Just watch.''

When Keith turned her gaze to the sky that had darkened many hours ago. She could see how several flashes of light coming from the stratosphere began to show through the sky. Taking her hands to her mouth of surprise, she could realize who this whole show was about while the words galra were painted through the stars in vivid colors, with slight explosions assimilating fireworks that, for some reason, galra loved to decorate with anything.

The words 'I love you' have never reached Pidge's heart as much as that night. Keith hugged her gently from the side and they watched the show he had prepared with BOM.

''I ... I know I'm not able to give you a stable future or a family as you wish, Katie.''

Her chest throbbed painfully at his words, staring at Keith when the lights reflected off his skin. His gaze was full of pain.

''I don't see myself able to abandon what I am or what I do, as you don't feel able to leave Garrison and accompany me through the universe.''

Pidge bit her lip, suppressing any refusal she could give since deep down she knew Keith was telling the truth. While she loved to know the universe and discover new technologies through galaxies, she didn't seem able to leave her own roots for something like that.

Keith took her chin to see him again, this time with a much more serene look than before.

''But I want to try, Katie. I want our relationship to move forward, even to form a family in the future...'' He looked away briefly before continuing. ''I can't give you something ideal like Shiro and Matt ... But only if you agree, of course...''

''I don't care about that, Keith... '' Answered, at last, smiling as her tears escaped through her cheeks. ''I know it's not the traditional thing, but... What does it matter? Nothing in the world is hundreds of years ago.''

Keith smiled at her when he lifted her into the air at her response, laughing with happiness as their tears mingled in a rather clumsy kiss. When they walked away, the sky had finally turned towards darkness. Seeing how the fighters were moving towards the sky.

''Whose idea was it?'' Pidge asked, Keith scratched his head, uncomfortable.

''From Kolivan.''

''Your uncle? Seriously!?''

''Hey, the advice he gives me has always been good!''

''Wow ... I never would have imagined it.'' She replied when she snuggled into his chest, looking for some warmth for her frozen nose. Keith breathed hard.

''It's pretty romantic when you take the time to meet him.'' Pidge hummed in response when they swayed around. ''When I return, and after Shiro's marriage, I will correctly ask you to be my wife.'' A sweet kiss on his lips was the answer enough for Keith's heart to calm down and give the evening a successful run and Lance's pride ended up on the floor.

''I'll count the days from today.''

After months, at last Pidge's chest felt really relieved.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under A Purple Rain prt 27 full draft

Napping was all Lance’s body wanted to do. His mind wanted to finish sorting baby clothes with Keith, but his yawns wouldn’t stop. The last two days had been lazy days. They’d taken Kosmo up to see the cave where the Blue Lion had slept for so long. His busted knee hated every moment of it. Kosmo acting like a Shepard as he herded him away from everything he deemed dangerous with a gentle fanged mouth around his hand. Melancholy tugging on his heart as he stared at the blue markings from the ancient race who’d seen blue land. He’d always thought the Paladin’s of the past as those who’d left the markings for those of the future. Lance thought it’d bring him some kind of peace of mind, yet it only brought his time as a Paladin crashing back. His mind flooded with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Things were better now. He honestly didn’t know how they’d survived what they had. They’d all be so young. So young and so insecure. He’d been so stupid. His stupid flirting and desperate need to be acknowledged... He wanted to die of embarrassment when he thought of himself. No wonder Keith had brushed him off upon his return. Kuron had been right. Kuron had been every time he’d lorded over him. Every time he’d rubbed his incompetence in his face. Every harder than necessary blow during training. Every scoff... He wasn’t as over it as he’d thought. Shiro was Shiro again... And if Shiro had remembered any of what had happened, he’d thankfully kept it to himself. They’d spent a few long moments both reflecting on their Voltron adventures before leaving, Lance knew he wasn’t doing a very good job hiding his struggle from Keith. Keith simply wrapping his arm around his waist, silently being there without pushing for which Lance was extremely grateful. After returning from visiting Blue’s resting place, Keith had left him alone for a bit. Lance not wanting to shackle him down, accepted he too might need space after what had happened. For his husband it’d technically been a decade since they hurtled off on their adventure. Keith had matured so much, he was practically a different person. His clinging baby fat had morphed into long lean lines. He no longer carried himself with the air of isolation and loneliness. He was now taller and broader than ever. His body carrying far too many scary scars, yet each scar was proof that he’d survived. His long black hair no longer a mullet, though that name would never get old. The immaturity of youth had been thoroughly scrubbed away as they were all forced to grow up far too fast. Maybe that was why now that they had found some kind of peace, things like “adulting” went out the window. They had the time to the things young lovers did. They had the time to play hooky, to shirk responsibilities and obligations. It may because they were both recovering, but Lance hated the moments they spent apart due to his depression or need for sleep. He hated the hours spent throwing his guts up, when he’d rather be on the move, doing and seeing new things with Keith. With Keith’s father’s clothes to go through, he’d started taking things from the packing boxes slowly and carefully. The residual scents of washing powder and dust hung to the garments, then again, after 19 years or so he shouldn’t have been expecting to find any traces of his father-in-law’s scent. He supposed it was a little creepy to be trying to trace his scent. Lance was simply curious if his husband smelt more of his mother than father. Lance was still sorting clothes when Keith had walked in with a shit eating grin on his face. Placing the box he had in his hold on the floor, Keith ruined all Lance’s carefully sorted piles, before dropping them all back into the box they come from. Ignoring his spluttered complaints, Keith took his knife from his belt, cutting through the top tape of the box he’d brought in. Grabbing something out the top, he stuffed it in his pockets, then carried it over and upended it. Smug as hell as Lance took several long moments to realise his husband had brought him maternity clothes. Plain. Simple. Non-frilly. Non-flowery. Maternity clothes. Ugly crying, he couldn’t even thank his husband. He was way too happy, and way too shocked to remember Spanish, let alone English. This is what lead to then doing what must have been a dozen washes, of his clothes, and then the baby clothes and blankets. Yeah. He’d gotten completely carried away with all the washing, but the ideal of jeans that didn’t cut into his belly was to tempting. Folding the tiny onesie in his hold, Lance yawned again. Keith taking the onesie from his hold and carefully placing it in the bag with the others. Despite Daehra and Lucteal both knowing of his pregnancy, it still felt a little awkward. He wasn’t coping with the changes his body was going through, and though they meant well, he didn’t look forward to Daehra hovering over him as she knew he would. Plus, Marco didn’t know he was pregnant, so everything was being repacked to be unpacked without his older brother around. The secret of his pregnancy had been spreading, Lance missing the closeness of only he, Keith and Shiro knowing. Medical staff didn’t count. Soon he’d have no choice but to tell Krolia, who’d tell Kolivan. Curtis, because he and Shiro were a package deal. His papi... then his siblings. Each time he thought of how many people were left to judge him, he felt sick to his stomach. Keith was still adjusting to the idea of being a father... He’d need to tell his team... His team that Lance was still to face... Then there was Hunk, Shay and Pidge... He just knew it wasn’t going to go well. He was medical oddity. A freak of nature “Babe, you ok?” “Yeah” “Tired again?” “A bit” Leaning into Keith, his husband felt warm. Frowning at the unexpected warmth, Lance brought his palm to Keith’s forehead “What are you doing?” “You’re hot” Taking his hand, Keith snorted “Thanks. So are you” If he hadn’t been concerned, Lance would have rolled his eyes “I think you have a fever. Do you feel sick?” There was a tick long pause “Maybe a little hot...” Groaning, Lance sat up, taking the opportunity to really stare at his husband. Keith looked sick. He couldn’t pick up anything in his scent, but he’d spent Vargas staring at Keith’s face. He knew when he was in pain. He knew when he was sick “You’re sick. Come on, let’s get you to bed and settled” Keith growled softly “I’m not sick” “And I’m not pregnant. You’re sick, buster. Let me check your foot. I bet your infection’s got worse again” Sass was his defence. He was scared. He’d missed the symptoms. He should have been paying more attention of Keith’s needs “It’s nothing” “Keith. If you don’t get up and march your arse to bed right now, I will knock you out and carry you there myself. Why didn’t you tell me you were sick!?” “I don’t know... I didn’t really notice it until you pointed it out” “What kind of excuse is that!? Come on, we’re going to bed” Grabbing Keith’s hand, he didn’t care that he was scattering baby clothes as he pulled Keith to his feet “Well someone’s eager” That one earned the eye roll “Yes. I’m eager to make sure you’re not getting sick because we haven’t been monitoring your foot like we have. I’m so fucking stupid. Of course it wasn’t healed. It’s not like your neck. No. That healed... you had a whole fucking branch in your foot. Stupid, Lance... stupid. You have one fucking job...” “Babe...” Keith tried to calm him, Lance ignoring it in favour of limping as fast as he could with Keith in tow. Peeling off his husband’s sock, Keith’s foot was definitely infected. A small lump having formed under the tiny pinprick sized remaining scab, while red lines ran from the site “It’s infected” Wriggling his toes, Keith tried to peer down at the bottom of his foot, which was impossible. His foot was in Lance’s hold “Are you sure?” “Keith. I’m going to hit you. Why didn’t you tell me that it hurt!?” “It didn’t? I mean, it felt a little weird this morning...” “This morning!” Screeching at Keith, it was now afternoon, nearly evening. It’d been that bad for that long?! “Dios. Don’t go yelling like that. I’m fine. I’ll take a nap...” Who’d taught this el estúpido ,Spanish? “Why didn’t you tell me? Kosmo, make sure he doesn’t move. Or I’ll castrate both of you” Retrieving the med kit, the pain pills in the pack seemed to stare at him. His heart starting to race the longer he stared at them. Growling at himself, he shook two pills out the pack, before limping to the kitchen to retrieve a water pack for Keith. Returning to their room, his husband had started sweating, his hands slightly shaky as he took the pills and swallowed them down without protest. Keith must have been feeling like quiznak to be so obliging. Catching his arm as Lance placed down the water pack, Keith gave him a smile “It’s not that bad. You’re not an idiot. I didn’t notice” “I should have... You’re my husband and I didn’t...” Shaking his head, he didn’t want to have this conversation. He was stupid. He was. Moving to sit down by the first aid kit, he sighed at himself. He was stupid. Whether Keith admitted it or not “I’m going to look at your foot. It might hurt a bit, but hopefully anything that’s been in there will drain out” “Babe. It’s fine. It’s not even that sore” “You took both pills without me asking! You wouldn’t do that if it was nothing!” “I would when I knew you’d be upset. I was too wrapped up in thinking about our twins in these tiny little clothes to think about much else... babies are small, aren’t they?” “Some are. Twins are usually smaller because there’s only so much space they can take up” “That’s so weird” Lance might be the rambler when he was sleepy, but he was now enjoying listening to Keith’s sleepy rambles. He felt sick to the very bottom of his stomach that he’d missed all the signs “Tell me about it. Actually, tell me about it. It’ll keep you distracted” “You’re like growing two people in you. What if they’re dickheads? Or like weird food... or brussel sprouts? What if they can’t pilot? What if they get air-sick?” Grabbing what he needed from the first aid kit, Lance slathered the bump with antibiotic cream “No child of yours would dare get air-sick” “That tickles” “Good, because it’s about to get painful. What else have to you discovered about twins?” Taking the scalpel, this was probably an awful idea. He nearly forgot to put the gauze underneath Keith’s foot to catch anything that came out. What came out had him gagging. There was a small sliver of plant matter that finally oozed out once the initial rush of blood and gunk passed. It reeked. Keith needed to be on antibiotics, and he didn’t have any. Five days into their precious holiday, and now they were going to have to leave early. Working out what he could, Keith didn’t take it well. He kept trying to free his foot and hit him in the nose more than once as Lance wrestled with him. For a big bad Blade’s operative, Keith was being a woose “Are you done yet?” Folding up the dirty gauze he’d been wiping over the wound, Lance sighed at his husband. He knew he was terrible at this sort of thing, but he was sure he was doing better than Keith. His knee still felt as if it was stuffed full of razor blades, yet he’d kept most of his grumblings to himself “You’re not going to like this. Either we do a hospital trip over to Garrison city, or we’re heading to the outpost two days early” Crossing his arms, Keith looked like an angry toddler as he huffed “I’m sure it’s not that bad” “It’s literally a piece of bramble from the planet that sent you all crazy. The whole planet was anti-Galra and your human side didn’t help at all. Yes, it is that bad. Now make your mind up. The hospital or Daehra” Keith glared at him for a long moment “Are you sure I need to go?” Unfolding the piece of dirty gauze in his hold, Keith wrinkled his nose. Lance dry heaving as he rushed to scrunch it back up “Yeah. It stinks. I don’t know how the fuck they missed it, but I’m not fucking happy. And I’m not letting you off that easy. An infection can easily turn to blood poisoning or sepsis. Do you want to lose your arms and legs? Because sometimes that’s the only way to save someone!” “Alright. Ok. We’ll go to the hospital” “Thank you. Let me clean this all up, then we’ll go. No poking at it while I’m gone. I want to let it drain a little more before I cover it up” Kosmo wasn’t keen on being left behind, and Keith wasn’t keen on letting him pilot his ship. Reminding his husband that “idiots who didn’t pay attention to their infections were made to sit in the passenger seats where they were expected to remain quiet”, didn’t sit well with him at all. Keith trying to be covert as he began picking at the tape holding the non-stick wound pad on. Pulling his knife from his boot, Lance threw it at the dash beside Keith’s booted “good foot”, causing his husband to yelp in shock. Given he wasn’t sorry, Lance didn’t apologise. As he piloted the ship to the designated landing area on the outskirts of the city, he played back everything that had happened. All he could think of was in the rocky terrain where Blue’s cave had been, Keith must have irritated and dislodged the fragment. His foot had been getting better. The wound shrinking every day... because he’d made sure to check when he remembered. He’d stopped verbally asking as Keith would get annoyed. Now he was kicking himself. Catching a hover-taxi to the hospital, Lance nearly forgot his crutches, and his wallet in his rush to get Keith into the hands of someone more professional than he was. He’d cleaned the wound out with a saline wash from the first aid kit. Bits of red looking gunk dribbling out as he did. It took three rinses for him to be happy. Keith, on the other hand, certainly wasn’t happy. Not that Lance was thrilled over their current predicament. He hated hospitals. He hated the smell of the disinfectant. He felt like he was being judged as a junky, despite them having no knowledge of his condition. Talking first with the triage nurse, then with the registrar, they were asked to wait in the relatively empty waiting room. Being Paladins meant they had free healthcare, as did their families. His heart ached over the fact the same couldn’t be said for everyone. It felt like a totally dick move to charge people thousands of dollars when everyone had a basic right to all the same services. They hadn’t fought in a galactic war just to line the pockets of the greedy. He’d never tell Keith, yet if he was faced with some of the rich that blamed the poor for being poor, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t shoot them. With Keith feeling so poorly, Lance held his hand tightly, rubbing his cheek against his husbands upper arm in an effort to comfort him. Keith had his fair share of bad memories when it came to hospitals. He’d expected him to opt for Daehra, but Keith wasn’t ready to return to space. The incident having carved a deep and ugly scar inside, where his love couldn’t magically make it all better. When Keith was called through, Lance explained what had happened as his husband was sulking with the biggest pout he’d ever seen on his lips. Examining the wound, Keith behaved himself as he was prodded at.. before being offered the use of a pod to heal the minor injury. They’d have to head over to the garrison if they took the offer. Selfishly torn, Lance prayed Keith wouldn’t take the offer. He wanted Keith safe, well, and in one piece. He also feared Keith going into a pod and never coming out again. Realising his working himself into a panic attack over the idea of Keith being trapped behind that thin pane of glass forever, he wrapped his arms around himself in a self hug. Breathe in. Hold. Release. Patience yields focus. Breathe in. Hold. Release. As Lance worked his way back out of the sprouting panic attack, Keith accepted the offer of antibiotics instead, as they’d be staying with a medical professional in a few days anyway. Recleaning and dressing Keith’s foot, his husband was given crutches to keep him off it. It wasn’t until Keith started getting huffy over accelerated Galra healing that Lance felt he could breathe again. They made a fine pair. Both of them on crutches, both of them wanting to hold the door open for the other. Keith’s pride getting in the way when he limped forward, growling at the slow pace. Both of them quiznakking idiots who couldn’t follow doctors orders. Keith had tried to get him in trouble by mentioning how Lance was still in quite a bit of pain from his sprained knee. Which was ignored. The doctor simply raising an eyebrow, before getting back to explaining how Keith needed to take one tablet three times a day with meals. * With Keith off his feet, Lance was determined to be the perfect husband. The fact that his anxieties wouldn’t give him a moments rest, nor the nausea that left him with a crippling headache as he cooked for them, didn’t stop him. Sleeping off his fever, Lance went on a preparation spree. He cooked up all the food that was left in the shack, making enough meals that they’d be taking some back to the outpost. He swept the wood floors, then ran the mop over them. Cleaned up the baby clothes that he been scattered, tears rolling down his face because of how tiny and precious they all were. Their two tiny miracles... That he still hadn’t decided on where he’d be giving birth. Altea had all his medical records, but his counsellor was on Erathus... Dios knew he could use a long talk with them... He wasn’t recovered from what had happened on the training mission. Keith’s words would echo in his ears. The way they snapped at him would come flooding back without want. He was trying to be ok, because when it was just the two of them, Keith made everything better by being at his side. He felt stronger with him. Not so useless and cowardly... and not quite so out of control. The temptation to swallow down half a dozen painkillers had only been killed by Keith’s need of them. He’d thought his knee would heal faster than it had been. Two movements on crutches and it was still tender, despite icing and elevating it. The Cuban had the suspicion that his sister sitting on his leg had worsened the damage, but he didn’t want to appear a cry baby over a sore knee. Not when Keith was actually ill. He’d cried pathetically over missing the signs and symptoms as he changed the cold compress across Keith’s forehead. His husband treated him like he was the most precious treasure in existence, yet he’d let him down by not paying enough attention. And... and it scared him. It scared him so badly that Keith could be so sick and he’d missed it. He never asked if he still felt pain from having that bone sample taken from his wrist, or where Lance had accidentally electrocuted him. Hearing Keith scream his name, Lance flew into a blind panic, bumping into the walls of the shack as he rushed. Thrashing on the bed, Keith was mid-nightmare. Lunging forward, his stupid knee twisted, Lance letting out his own pained cry as he clutched his knee. The brace was off because wearing it was bulky and uncomfortable. Now he regretted it. Holding his knee, he hobbled to the bed before sitting on the edge and taking Keith’s shoulders into his hands “Keith. Babe... Babe, you need to wake up for me” Keith fought his hold, Lance afraid he was going to have to slap him, when his husband’s eyes suddenly shot open. Disorientated, it took Keith a few moments to meet his eyes. When he did, his husband crumpled. Gathering him up, Lance rubbed his back as he hushed him softly “You’re ok, mullet. You’re ok... it was just a dream” Nodding, Keith still clung to him tightly “Sorry” “It’s alright. As long as you’re alright... I’ve got you” “I had a nightmare” Mumbled into his shoulder, Keith continued to shake “I noticed. Do you want to tell me?” “It’s stupid” Trust his husband to call anything he couldn’t handle “stupid” “It’s not stupid. We both have nightmares, babe. We can’t help it...” “But it is...” “Were you chased by giant ducks?” Keith snorted wetly, Lance nuzzling his hair “No. No. Allura came back and she and Lotor killed you... I couldn’t stop them. They cut... they... she...” “Ok. Ok. Deep breaths for me. I’m here” Knowing it was Allura hurt. She’d done this to his body in the first place, and he’d been blissfully free of her hauntings for a small while now. He made an educated guess that they’d done something about the twins in his nightmare, by the way Keith shook harder when he got to “they cut...” “It was awful” “I know, babe. But she’s gone. They’re both gone. And we’re all safe... We’re all safe... I’m safe” “I can’t lose you... or the twins... I can’t be left behind again” “Shhhh... I’m not leaving. You’re my husband... two halves of the same idiot” “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I’m crying over a stupid dream” “Babe, it’s not the first time and I know it sucks, but I’m here. Being home must have brought back up so much for you... but I’m ok. Your babies are ok... we’re ok” “It felt...” “It felt way too real?” Keith nodded. Lance knew exactly what he meant. He’d seen Keith killed in front of him more than he liked to admit, or think about “Here, lay back down so I can hold you properly. You can rub the belly as much as you want” Sniffling, Keith leaned back. His husband’s eyes red rimmed and face a total mess. Smiling softly, Lance leaned in to kiss him, wishing he could kiss the pain away “Sorry...” “Don’t even think about apologising again. You’re my husband, Keith. The father of our twins. And one hell of a bad arse with his share of scars. We’ve been through some really really scary things, but we’re safe here in the shack. Just the two... three... five of us...?” Yeah. 5. Them. Their fur son and their twins. 5... His drawn out math drawing a smile from Keith, Keith returning the kiss with a soft nuzzle “Our family’s really getting bigger” “Yep. I think I’ve popped further... but I’d have to check the photos...” “You’ve been taking photos?” “I know I’ve gotten bigger since we got here... I took some... I... wanted to want this too, but it’s hard seeing my body growing bigger” Nuzzling harder, Keith’s kiss was more ”sexual” than ”comforting”. Keith’s wrists moving to rub at his neck “You’re beautiful. You’re so fucking beautiful...” “And you’re a mess. Now lay down so you can have cuddles” It took a good hour of pampering attention on Lance’s stomach for Keith to settle. Lance was barely conscious, the feel of Keith’s slightly rough fingertips lulling him like the world’s sweetest lullaby into a feeling of safety and security that his anxieties hadn’t allowed. Growing babies took so much out of him. He’d found a new respect for every working pregnant woman. His body wanted sleep. He wanted sleep. His bladder wanted freedom. Keith needed him awake. Keith was more important to him than his own rest and needs. His husband wasn’t able to “lay still”, he wouldn’t stop rubbing at the taunt skin as he kissed and nuzzled the swell... after forcing Lance to pull his shirt off so he could double check that Lance hadn’t been gutted for their twins. Crawling back up to rest with his head on Lance’s arm, Keith snuggled into his chest “Feeling better?” “Yeah. I’ve calmed down... My instincts got the better of me. That dream... I could feel your blood on my hands as I tried to keep your organs from falling out. Lotor, he was holding our twins. Allura...” “They’re gone. Allura and Lotor are gone. You don’t need to keep thinking about it” “I know” “Then you’ll be ok with taking a nap? I’m pretty beat” “I don’t think I can. Not yet” “Then do that creepy thing you do when you watch me sleep” “It’s not creepy. It’s the only time you’re quiet” Keith was joking. He was joking and he knew it... Yet it stung “My bad. I’ve cleaned through the shack and did the meal prep. It just needs to be popped in the microwave when you get hungry. You can go ahead and eat when you feel like it, but don’t forget to take your meds when you do, and don’t forget you need to use your crutches” Keith picked up on his hurt. His husband frowning “Did I say something wrong?” Forcing a smile for Keith’s sake, Lance squashed his pain down “Nah. I’m just tired from growing your babies. Nothing that a nap won’t fix” “Alright... you were yawning constantly” “Because it’s hard work... I feel like I could sleep for a year” “Then you should have come to bed. You’re supposed to stay off your knee” “I didn’t want to disturb you. You had a long day” “That’s not excuse. You’re not supposed to be doing the housework in my shack. You’re my husband” “And you’re my husband. Is it so crazy that I might want to be there for you too” “But it’s my job to take care of you...” Job... It was a job to take care of him... No. He wasn’t going to cry. Keith was right. He was a job. A whole lot of hard work that his husband didn’t need.

[sailormew4]

I just saw so many Keith might turn on everyone because he's being brainwashed by Haggar theories and.....

IT MAKES TOO MUCH SENSE! BUT NOW MY STUPID ANGSTY KLANCE SHIPPING PART OF MY BRAIN JUST WENT INTO OVERDRIVE!

The finale is similar to the first episode and is the equivalent of three episodes. Keith was captured in the beginning third or before it starts, but before he got captured he said something to Lance as he's being taken

Keith: Lance, your always my first choice. I love you.

In the ship, Haggar starts drenching him in quintessence and manipulating his mind just his screams echoing in the ship as he tries his damn hardest to resist.

Team Voltron with Shiro temporarily in Black and they enter the ship Haggar is on. Cue dramatic villain entrance with them demanding to have Keith back.

Haggar: As you wish. Red Paladin come.

Keith enters and he looks full Galra with his eyes being golden but holding the Black Bayard and Shiro just about to lose it before Haggar tells Keith to finish them while she walks away. Someone yells Allura to follow Haggar and stop whatever she's doing.

Keith is just brutal. Hunk and Pidge don't last long before they're injured and ready to drop. Shiro is just frozen with fear. He can't hurt Keith, his brother, his body hurt him once he can't do it again so he keeps trying to talk to him. Lance eventually shoots the roof or something to block Keith so they can catch their breath. Lance sees that fighting Keith is dangerous. Hunk and Pidge are injured and need medical attention, Shiro can't fight his brother and if he does it would crush him and Keith, and Allura is handling Haggar so all that leaves is the one person left out. Lance. So he tells Shiro he can handle Keith. He doesn't have to fight him, but someone needs to take Pidge and Hunk out of here. Shiro keeps asking if Lance is sure as they can hear Keith getting closer. Lance nods saying he's sure. Keith enters just as Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk are leaving. Lance looks at Keith as he forms the broadsword to keep up with Keith's sword but without saying things first.

Lance: Keith, I really don't want to hurt you, so please if you're in there. Fight it. Fight Haggar, not us, not Shiro, and not me. We're your friends.

Keith essentially goes straight in for the attack as Lance keeps trying to talk to him. Pleading, begging that Keith come back. That's when he notices something. Keith is crying.

Lance: I know, Keith. I know you're hurting, but I know you can fight Haggar. I know that the real you is still in there.

Then Keith does something he hasn't done in the entire fight. Respond.

Keith: Why are you fighting so hard? I'm just a monster. We're not even friends

Lance: That's not true and you know it. Just because your half Galra doesn't mean you're monster. That's just so who are it makes you... you. And you're right we're not friends. Your my best friend in fact I think I might -

Lance is cut off by Keith grabbing his neck cutting off his answer. Keith is crying even harder as one of his arms is trying to grab away the other arm to stop hurting Lance. Keith is muttering things like "shut up" "stop it" "I'm sorry" "please". Lance's vision starts to blur but he needs to try to say it at least to see if it can work.

Lance: Keith, I know you can hear me, so I need to say this *gasp* Keith ... I.... I love you too.

There's a flash of Keith's eyes before a sudden roar in his ears followed by deafening ringing as he lets go of Lance to stop it. Lance coughs as he goes over to Keith and hugs him and whispers, "I got you buddy. I'm not leaving you."

Keith starts breathing heavy as he skin rapidly changes between purple and his normal skin with his eyes flashing. Keith looks at Lance with his sclera changes to yellow and white, but his pupils are there crying. Lance smiles as he places his forehead against Keith's before sliding his lips onto Keith. (Since DreamWorks hates us it would probably zoom away that homophobes would think it's a hug). When Lance pulls away from the kiss as Keith fully shifts back to human with just heavy bruising.

Lance: Ah, there you are. I recognize that Mullet anywhere

Keith chuckles before they hear a crash with the roars from Red and Blue. Lance stands up as he offers a hand to Keith.

Lance: I knew you could do it. *Keith grabs his hand as they both kinda lean against each other* Now let's go end this war for good. We do make a pretty good team.

Keith: *chuckles* I knew you remembered our bonding moment.

Lance: And I promise I won't forget this.

They go in their Lions calling in that they're ready. Everyone cheers that Keith's back to normal as they form Voltron as the last fight between Allura and Haggar while Voltron fights one last Robeast.

Then at the end they have a quiet moment that reminisces me of Kataang and Korrasami.

[welcometoyournewhell]

Tummy Tickles and Comfort

Inspired by and rp with @kwaiipootato and a Christmas gift for her!

Keith was never one to judge, let alone think about appearances. It wasn’t until he met someone at the space mall that his own body started to bother him. Standing in the elevator once more beside Lance, he started to feel worse. 

Lance had such a slender form. He had a swimmer’s build with a long torso. He was just... skinny. Keith had thought he was skinny too, not that it bothered him if he wasn’t. It was just... the way it was said to him. 

Tickling had always been something comforting and fun for the young man. His adopted guardians would tickle him often, until Shiro left for Kerberos. When he came back he was... different. He’d hardly even hug Keith anymore, and with no Adam either... the tickles stopped.  

The comfort was gone, as was the playfulness. Finding a store in the mall for such the occasion he met a cute boy who offered to help with that. It was fine at first, everything was soft and nice. Keith knew he’d probably never see the other again so it didn’t matter to him. 

It wasn’t until half way through the ticklish agony that the guy became a jerk. He started talking poorly about Keith’s body and his reactions. He was talking like the red paladin was a harlot, here for his amusement. 

The things that were said... really damaged Keith. He didn’t tell Shiro about the insadent, or anyone. He stayed in his room.. until wanted to hit the pool. “What are you looking at mullet?” Lance’s voice brought him back to reality. Purple eyes fell to the floor as Keith pulled the towel on his head closer. “Nothing.”

The blue paladin frowned at the reaction. Something was wrong, he could tell. But he doubted Keith wanted to-- whoa what was that? Blue eyes darted to his tummy as a single finger poked at it. 

“What are you doing?”  “Huh? Oh... nothing, sorry.” The other looked awkwardly away. “Um... alright.. Weird,” Lance muttered under his breath. A slight movement caught his eyes again. Keith was poking his own tummy now. Was he really gross and extra fleshy? 

“Keith, what are you doing?” The blue paladin was getting annoyed. “Nothing. What happened to not talking?” The other poked Keith’s tummy. A small flinch followed. “Well you kind of threw that out the window when you started to touch me! So,” the younger sassed. 

Purple eyes rolled before the power suddenly ran out. A dim blue glow showed them their surroundings. Both sighed softly. “We have got to stop taking the elevator,” the emo groaned. The lover boy shrugged before sitting against the wall. “At least we’re not alone.” 

Keith sat beside him, which kind of weirded Lance out. “Dude... are you okay? Your acting a little off today.” A blush came onto the boy’s face before he poked Lance’s tummy again. 

“Stop that! It tickles,” the blue paladin huffed. Out of instinct, he attacked! He nearly stopped from shock and realization, but quickly kept going. This was awesome! Keith squealed as he rolled from side to side trying to escape. 

The way his eyes crinkled were adorable! His giggles, gasps, and squeals were equally as cute. But on the other end, Keith was starting to panic. He didn’t want to be insulted and humiliated, or tickled bast his limits again. 

“N-Nhahaho! Wait, please?” He couldn’t pry the other’s hands off of him, it was like Lance was hell bent on tickling him to death. “Should have thought about that before poking me over and over.” 

With out thinking, lips found the quivering tummy. Inhailing gave Keith a few moments of rest before a farting sound escaped. “Lahahhahahance,” the red paladin screamed. “Stop, stop! Nhahahaot thehehehreeee!” His tummy was one of his worst spots. 

“S-Shehehriously, plehehease?” He was starting to visibly panic. Lance pulled back. “Hey... it was just a little tickling. Sorry.” Something was wrong. Keith quickly curled into himself to hide away. “No. I’m fine. Sorry about poking you.” They sat awkwardly for a while before he elevator came back on. 

Rather than going up to the pool, it headed back down to the living area. As the doors opened Keith stepped off with out a word. “Hey, I thought you wanted to swim.” 

The red paladin didn’t stop walking as he replied. “You enjoy. You wanted it to yourself anyway.” Getting to his room, Keith threw down his towel and went to change. 

That was before he didn’t hear his door shut. He only had a few moments to reacted before he was pulled onto the bed from behind. “H-Hey!” He panicked as the body started to wrestle him down. 

“Asshole, get away!” His fear was the jerk from the mall, but when he opened his eyes he had a new fear. Lance’s angry expression turned into one of shock from the tears in Keith’s eyes. “Dude... relax.” 

Yes, something was horribly off. “Do... do you want me to get Shiro?” No... he’d be so mad at him. Keith shook his head. “Just go away, alright? I’m fine. I’t snothing I can-- hehehe! No!” 

Legs kicked out as fingers wiggled teasingly around the tummy. “Keith what’s going on?” They’d all split up at the mall, maybe something happened? “It hurts! Lhahance please!” Hurt? He’d hardly tickled him!

Stopping, Lance sat back on the red paladin’s thighs. Crossing his arms, he huffed. “Keith what’s wrong?” A small whimpered escaped the other’s mouth as he leaned into his friend. “Promise not to tell Shiro?”

The other sighed. “Maybe, the fact your actually crying and confiding in me may make me change my mind. What happened?” Frustration brought more tears to Keith’s eyes. “I... did something dumb at the mall.” 

Brown brows furrowed. “Dumb? Like what?” He looked at the other’s tummy before feeling a touch on his shoulder. A soft hand lifted his chin. “Keith?” Lance was truly concerned. “I... let some guy tickle me in a back room of a shop. A-And I... I tried to get him to stop because he was hurting me and saying things... I.... I don’t know.”

A look of shock came on his face. “You let some stranger take you into a private room and tickle you? What store would allow this, and why did you let him tickle, let alone touch you?!” Did his parents never... oh wait. 

That’s right, Keith didn’t have any. “W-Weren’t you ever taught to stay away from strangers? Keith what if he did worse stuff than that! He could have totally taken advantage of you!” Lance was beyond pissed. 

“I know, alright? I just... look it’s complicated.” Hands held his sides angrily.. “Please, take your time.” The red paladin’s face heated up. “Look... just. Don’t make fun of me, okay?” Blue eyes rolled. “We’ll see.” A small glare was stopped as Lance gave a warning squeeze. 

Sighing, the other looked away. “My dad used to tickle me all the time. It would be a punishment, or playful, or just bonding. You know, that thing we had.” The other shrugged. “Still don’t remember, but whatever.” Ignoring the comment, Keith continued. 

“After my dad died... no one really even hugged me. Until I was fourteen and Shiro took me in. Him and Adam were like... my family. We’d go places... do things. They’d tickle me all the time.” 

He shamefully looked away. “But now... Shiro hardly hugs me. But he still awkwardly tries to comfort me I guess.” The blue paladin frowned. He knew Keith and Shiro were close, but he didn’t know they were that close. 

That would... explain a lot. He also didn’t know his teacher and Shiro were a thing but he decided not to question it at the moment. Rather he just hugged the other. “Hey... tickling was kind of a nice bonding thing in my family too. If you want... we could tickle each other for comfort.” 

Keith frowned a bit before closing his eyes. “Mm hm.” 

[paprika-moony]

Man up- Voltron version

Well, I am so very soft for the s8 dropping in just a few hours so I guess I will just put it here for the record, and maybe, future animatic/cover or whatever. Or maybe one of you guys would like to do something with this. In that case, I’m more than welcome and definetely would love to see people doing something with it! I had this Man up song (from The Book of Mormon musical) version since two years. And I’m quite proud of it so I really wanted to share it with people out there. There’s the audio And the lyrics are here:

PIDGE: What did brother do When they expected him to fight Did he try to run away? Did he just break down and cry? No, brother dug down deep Knowing what he had to do- When surrounded by alien ships Brother knew that he had to… Man up. He had to man up. So he get on that ship and flied ahead And he manned up. Damn, he manned up And taught us all what real manning Up is about! And now it's up to me And it's time to man up! Brother has his time Now it's mine ta MAN UP! I'm taking the reins, l'm cutting my hair! Just like brother I'm bearing my fate! I've gotta stand up, Can't just clam up, It's time ta- MAN UP!

HUNK 'Cuz there's a time in your life When you know you've got to MAN UP. Don't let it pass you by, There's just one time to MAN UP.

LANCE Watch me man up like Nobody else!

HUNK I'm gonna man up all Over myself!

LANCE I've got to get ready, It's time ta, Time ta! What did Shiro do When they kidnapped all his crew? Did he scream like a girl? Or did he take it like a man? When some one had to fight He was right there to help Shiro said “I’ll do it!” And he took it on the chin!

HUNK He manned up! He manned up, He inspired both me and you That's man up. Real man up. And now it's my time ta...

LANCE DO IT DUDE!

SHIRO Time to be a hero And beat the galras! Time to battle Zarkon I'm not your prisoner! I'm gonna time ta, just watch me go! Time to stand up and blow up his reign Time ta!  Mine ta! Time ta!  Time ta! TIME TA. ALLURA: Altean city A place of hope and joy... CORAN: MAN UP! ALLURA: And if they want to get here They just have to find that lion! CORAN: Time ta! KEITH: Can you please tell me Why did the Garrison expelled me? CHORUS: Alternian city… LANCE: Hasta la later, Keith! KEITH: More to the point, What did they do to Shiro in that ship? CHORUS: Alternian city You have to save him! KEITH: It seems I'm not alone anymore HUNK: Man up! KEITH: Now these dorks will know my suspects ALL: Mullet boy KEITH: We are going where the lions are AND FORM VOLTRON ALL: FORM VOLTRON CHORUS: Listen to the wild cat call! PIDGE: My time to, time ta, Now it's my time to, Time ta! CHORUS: Altea is also a ship! SHIRO: No time to, not time ta, No, now it's time to time ta! CHORUS: Huuh! LANCE: I'll be leader for the very first time! CHORUS: Time ta! KEITH: I dont think you can drive us straight! CHORUS: Straight! CORAN: Can’t you guys just please flippin' calm down It's time ta, To form VOLTRON! ALLURA:                                         CHORUS:                KEITH:  Altean city!                                      Hay ya ya!                 Form Voltron Altean city!                                      Hay ya ya!                  Form Voltron Altean city!                                      I'm coming... Altean city!           

ALL:                                                                                   FORM VOLTRON! Worm hole! LANCE: It's time ta- HUNK: I dont think thats a good idea but whatever!

[worseandworser]

Your protector (Mermaid AU)

Ship: Keith/Lance (Voltron)

Summary:  When Lance told dad about the fish-boy, he was grounded and left without dinner that night.

Rating: Teen and Up

Warnings: ambiguous ending

Words: 2,314

A/N: My first Klance and why not mermaid!Keith? This is a gift to captainfettuccine, my beta and future wife <3 Partially based on Your Protector by Fleet Foxes.

read on ao3

Lance would much rather be sailing at the moment. His father told him to stay on the shore today and help his sisters with the week’s laundry, but he ran away as soon as he woke up. It would probably get him grounded but anything was better than sitting on the lake listening to girly gossip.

He liked to walk on the small beach on the southwest of the island. Mostly because it was empty – except for the occasional crab fishers – and also because it had a lot of rocks, allowing small creatures swim between the underwater holes. The waves made swish-swish and during the summer the cicadas made chirp-chirp; Lance liked to imitate both of the sounds when he needed to calm down. It also seemed as if the sand there was softer and colder, so he liked to wriggle his feet and let the feel sooth him from the heat.

They said it had cursed waters, that fish were not the only beings inhabiting the area. The folk people liked to tell stories about the monsters that eat human flesh, but Lance did not believe them. He was not a kid anymore, he was eleven years old! He was old enough to go inside the boat, so he knew nothing of that was real.

Therefore, it felt like a dream when Lance saw him.

He was a boy, like Lance. He looked eleven too, maybe twelve, with wavy black hair going a little bit down his shoulders. He was fair skinned just like the people that gave money to dad to take them to the beaches on the nearby islands, but he had funny pointy eyes that Lance had not seen in anyone before. There were a few scars on his back and even fresh, bleeding marks.

What truly startled Lance though was that he had no legs. Or maybe he had and was hiding them underneath the redfish scales that formed his… tail? Lance was not sure anymore. He was going to ask, about the legs and the scales and why he’d let his hair grow like a girl’s, but the fish-boy dived into the water before he’d had the chance.

When Lance told dad about the fish-boy, he was grounded and left without dinner that night.

  Lance was hiding. He did not want to be around when mom was crying, because mom had never cried before and Lance did not know what to do. Usually, when he cried, she would kiss his cheeks and whisper swish swish until he calmed down enough to tell her what had happened. But no one was whispering to her or kissing her cheeks today. They were all just looking at her somberly and saying I’m sorry as if it was their fault or something. Lance did not understand adults at all.

So he went to the beach. He'd found out the name of it – because of course, it had a name, people always liked to name things even that were not theirs, like a beach. It was called The Green Shore beach and it was another adult-thing that Lance did not understand: the shore was not made of greens but of yellowish-white sand. Maybe calling it The Yellowish-White Sand Shore was too big of a name, so they settled for green instead.

It was summer and the air was warm, but the water was cold, cold, cold. The lower temperature was good news, said the older fishermen, since it brings more fish to the fishing nets. Lance wasn’t there to fish though, so he took his clothes off and went for a swim. Or better yet, he just went far enough into the sea for the water to hit just right above his lips.

He stood there, letting his toes and fingers lose sensibility and watching the creatures swim around him as if he was part of the scenario. He came here so many times that he felt part of the scenario.

Lance recognized the boy-fish lurking from the rocks a few meters away.  He was hiding too, the water up to his nose and his eyes staring at the human. They’ve been doing this for a whole year now which meant they were friends now, weren’t they? Lance liked to think so since he had never had a friend for such a long time.

They still haven't talked. Boy-fish was shy and he always kept a big distance between them. Lance tried to approach him before, even tried to play splashing water with him, but boy-fish just stared at him.

Today he was being very brave though. He kept swimming closer and closer, his head poking from underwater all the time. Closer and closer and closer…

“You’re crying.”

It wasn’t a question. Lance wanted him to go away.

“My dad is gone.”

Boy-fish stood (that is if one could stand with a tail) the same height as Lance, brows furrowed and wet black hair sticking to his forehead.

“Gone how…?”

Lance gulped.

“He died yesterday on a shipwreck.”

The creature gave an understanding hum and nodded. He didn’t say I’m sorry and Lance would be eternally grateful for that.

“My dad died too, but it was years ago.”

They stared at each other, purple into blue into hearts. When his cheeks begun to heat Lance looked down, but boy-fish lowered himself to keep eye contact.

“What’s your name?”

“Lance.”

“Nice, I’m Keith.” The smile was sweet and warm and inviting. “Wanna play splash?”

Lance smiled back and wiped his cheeks.

  Keith was supposed to be on the rocks already. Summer had begun and with it came the best season for fishing, and Keith had promised him they would cross the Blue Bay together. Lance had been sitting on the sand since 6 a.m. and it was 9 now and he wanted to swim. And tell Keith land things, and hear Keith telling about sea things.

It wasn't like Lance missed him, but definitely he missed him. They'd been friends for years now and Keith knew so much about him, even if the mermen spent nine months away traveling with his pack. The summer was theirs and it had begun two days ago and if Keith did not show up today Lance was going to kick him. He had no idea if Keith had balls, so he would have to settle for a solid foot to the guts.

Lance had been trying to get a job. His family was big: mother, who was in no health to work, the sisters and his older bro. Usually, the girls would run around the village offering housework and Lance would go to the docks to carry the boats’ cargo. Although they got a bit of money, Miguel was the house’s main source of income; he sailed with the tourists and gained a lot. But Miguel was currently engaged to the neighbor's daughter, he would soon start providing for her and their future kids and no longer for his siblings. Lance was 15 now; he had to find stable work with a sailor or a fisherman to put food on their table.

He wished he could be like Keith, swimming all over the vast blue ocean, swishing a shining tail and discovering treasures. His friend had told him many stories about sunken ships and dangerous creatures that lurked in the waters, leaving him both scared and longing. Lance wished he could go, submerge into the depths of the world and live fantastic adventures with him.

Lance was aware that he couldn’t, though. He couldn’t tell anyone about Keith, never mind telling his mom that he was going to travel with him. Keith was a being that scared fishermen, sailors, and housewives waiting for their husbands to come back from the sea. People thought he was a monster. Lance, on the other hand, thought he was just an idiot with a mullet.

In a split of second, Lance was wet. All over. And it startled him so much because this was no beach for waves. He had started scrambling to get on his feet and go back to land when a laugh pierced through his ears.

In the end, Keith is just an idiot with a mullet.

“Yeah, yeah, you got me, Fish-Boy.” More splash and laughter. “Seriously, Keith, this ain’t as funny as it used to be.”

The mermen smirked.

“That’s ‘cause you didn’t see your face!”

Lance kicked water in Keith’s direction and the creature just avoided it.

“We going, then?”

Lance grinned. “Damn straight.”

The boy jumped into the sea, and the other swam cheerfully around him. Lance circled Keith shoulders with his arms and then his waist with his legs, pressing himself against the creature’s back. The wet black hair stuck to Lance’s cheek, but he couldn’t care less. He took a deep breath – Keith smelled like salt and sun and freedom, and Lance knew this day would be perfect – and the other dived in headed for their island.

Keith had found their island three years ago and had taken Lance there to show his discovery. It had more rocks than sand, small and ugly, so there were no stupid tourists and no one would ever see them there. It wasn't  their island since it was Nature’s and they vowed never to name it, but they called it theirs because they wanted it – and isn’t want the best way to have?

Whenever Lance opened his eyes underwater, all he could see was turquoise. He could feel Keith's muscles moving while he swam, he could feel the water in an almost painful way due to their speed. It was the most natural thing by now, holding onto his friend while crossing the Blue Bay. Each minute, Keith would emerge so that Lance could take another breath, and then dive again. The rhythm was already within them as if they were just one being.  

They were good together, and that’s exactly how it was meant to be.

Lance would much rather be on the shores at the moment. When he was a kid, he dreamt of being a fisherman. He wanted to sail the open sea, to unravel a new world that for a boy who had never left the Island sounded like a free pass to paradise. Lance wanted to be an adventurer and to come back home bringing treasures and food for the month. That was years ago though. Nowadays, his mother was ill and Veronica was crying every night before she went to work – and these were the only things he could think about as the ship sunk.

There was water everywhere and no land in sight. Lance knew that home was south since they had been sailing north since yesterday's morning, but with skies turned dark and seas turned evil the fact was pretty much useless. Many men had abandoned ship when it started to crumble, and the captain had screamed for him to leave, to try and save himself. Lance knew it wouldn’t have made a difference in the end because by now all of them were dead.

Ha had heard the stories. His father had told him some even, of feral tempests and overpowering winds. He had told him about the five stages of grief and how they went so fast through your heart when you were the one dying. The captain sinks with his ship, he had said, Just as lioness dies for her cub.

And Lance believed his father died holding Mother Maria’s mast.

The waves made crash crash and the boat made creak creak and Lance punched the wooden floor. He remembered Keith whispering about storms, how much they scared him and the words the mermaids sung to make the fear go away. Mermaids couldn’t drown though and Lance could, so he couldn’t sing. And besides, he wasn’t scared at all.

He screamed instead. Fell to his knees, threw his arms to the sky and screamed the names of all the ones he loved – mom, and sisters and Miguel and Keith. His hair was sticking to his face and the water came up to his hips and at that moment Lance was ready for whatever destiny guarded him. There he stood, before Nature and Ocean and God if there is one, and this is it, this is it.

A wave towered over him and what was left of the boat. It was tall, so tall that Lance was sure if he climbed he would reach the clouds. The captain shrieked and then it was all black.

He was floating or flying, he couldn’t know for sure. He couldn't hear or see anything, but he was cold, cold, cold like the summer currents or the sand after rain. Lance moved his arms around, and he couldn't reach the boat, or the shores, or his dad, even though he was sure everything surrounded him.

Fingers were curling around his ankles, just like seaweeds curled around the docks. They pulled him down, or maybe it was up, but who could care. Then the hands released him and came to rest around his neck, a soft and lulling caress. Lips caught his and Lance was falling. He'd wanted this, longed for this since he'd learned that mouths have other purposes besides eating.

Lance opened his eyes to amethyst ones. He could see the nuances of the color: it turned darker around the edges and the pupil, almost black, but its main tone was still a strong greyish-lilac. He had freckles; only a few but he had and at this distance the fisherman could count them as they spilled over high cheekbones, forming skin constellations. Lance had always wanted to touch those lips, so he did; first with his fingers and then once again with his own.

Lance took a deep breath and Keith smelled like salt and sun and freedom.

[it-has-the-gay-fanfiction]

Half of Me Has Gone Away

{I started writing this when the new season came out. I had to get my headcanons out there. At 6,720 words, this is the longest one-shot I have written to date! Hope you enjoy!}

[BIG WARNING: Temporary Major Character Death]

“I found my mom.”

Lance stared at the pixelated version of Keith on his screen in shock. It had been so long since he had seen Keith. It had probably been what… four weeks now? Too long. “Y-your?” Lance started to stutter out.

“Yeah,” Keith smiled softly, “my mom. Lance… I’ve waited so long for this. I-I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about her.” Keith sighed softly and ran his hand through his hair. Lance’s whole body ached. He wished he was there with Keith or that Keith was here with him. Lance hated that they had to talk through a screen late at night when they were both supposed to be sleeping. Lance hated how lonely he was, how ostracized he had become ever since Keith left, honestly, Lance just hated how half of his team had left him all alone. Sure, he was surrounded by people, but Lance was always alone, always left out. Team Punk and Matt always brushed him off when he wanted to hang out. Allura and Lotor were off practicing their alchemy, so Lance had no use or need to bother them. Coran always tried to rope him into cleaning the cryopods or some other chore, which had started to actually feel like a chore instead of something to look forward to like it had been before Keith had left. And Shiro…. Shiro had been so off. He had yelled at Lance.

“I’m happy for you man.” Lance said instead of everything else he wanted to say, everything he wanted Keith to know. “If you need to talk about it, I’m always here for you.” Lance smiled softly at Keith, who returned the smile a moment later. “You really should come see me- us,” Lance quickly corrected, “come see us soon. Okay?”

Keith laughed softly, fading into a yawn. “Yeah, I’ll come see you soon. Goodnight Lance.”

Lance’s face heated slightly, “Goodnight, Mullet.” Lance tapped the screen to end the call, but missed the hang-up button, not that he noticed. Lance set his tablet down on the bed beside him before curling into a ball, hugging his pillow to his chest. He really hoped Keith meant it. He really hoped they would see each other soon.

The truth was that Lance was always alone and it made his heartache. He felt like he shouldn’t even be in Voltron anymore, felt that he had no purpose. Lance choked back a sob, not wanting to cry alone in the dark of his room again. He tried to calm himself down, but the terrible thoughts kept racing through his head, making him feel even worse. This time he didn’t hold back the sob that ripped itself from his throat. He shook as he tried to muffle his sobs, he didn’t want to wake the important members of the team anyways.

“G-get-get yourself together, L-Lance.” Lance said to himself, trying to get his emotions under control. “Ju-just because n-no one cares about you or ne-eds you, doesn’t mean you g-get to cry about it every- every night.” Lance’s breath hitched as he tried to get himself under control. The tears wouldn’t stop, and it wasn’t long before he cried himself to sleep.

“Oh Lance… I wish I could be there... “ Keith sighed softly as he stared at his tablet. He knew he should have hung up when it was clear that Lance had missed the button, but something compelled him to stay on the line. Now he wasn’t sure if that was the best decision. His whole body ached at the thought that Lance cried himself to sleep, at the thought that Lance was all alone on a ship full of people. Keith didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t just leave to go take care of Lance, not even when his whole body yearned to be wrapped around the lanky Cuban’s. It wasn’t his place. “Next time I see you... “ Keith sighed and his body slumped, “goodnight, Lance. Don’t let them get you down.” Keith ended the call and stared at the ceiling. The Blade needed him… but does Lance need me more?

It had gotten worse for Lance at the Castle of Lions. He didn’t know what to do anymore. Everything Lance did was wrong, every move he made was somehow the worst thing he could have done, and he was getting sick and tired of it. Shiro was constantly on his back about stuff he didn’t do and he couldn’t even stand up for himself without getting yelled at by Shiro. Lance honestly felt like he was going to explode with everything he kept bottling up inside himself.

Lance growled and rolled out of the way of the gladiator’s staff, swinging his sword out in a wide arc as he came out of the roll. Focus, Lance! You need to get better. He shook his limbs out and rushed at the bot. He jumped up and twisted his body around midair to avoid a strike from the gladiator’s staff, using his momentum from the movement to bring his sword down on the bot’s head. Lance dropped to the floor and looked up to see the bot fall apart at his feet. The red paladin pushed himself up and stuck his sword in the ground so that he could lean against it to catch his breath.

Before Lance could call for the next level to start, the alarms went off. He growled under his breath and returned his bayard to its normal form before running towards the control room. Lance burst through the doors, breathing harshly, and just barely stopped himself from flinching when he realized that he was the last one there.

“Lance. You’re late.” Shiro said harshly and glared down at the panting red paladin. Lance flinched a little and clenched his fists.

“S-sorry! I was-” Lance started to say before Shiro cut him off.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses, Lance! You are always the last one here. Can’t you see that you’re dragging the team down?!” Shiro yelled practically in Lance’s face.

Lance narrowed his eyes and pushed a finger into Shiro’s chest, “Shut up, Shiro! You’re not acting like yourself. The old Shiro wouldn’t yell at me every time I make a small mistake or show up late. The old Shiro would at least give me the chance to say that I had been training before this!” Lance growled out. “I don’t know who you are anymore, but you’re not my Shiro.” Lance pushed Shiro out of the way so he could get to his seat. He crossed his arms and stood in front of his seat, looking around the room as if daring the others to disagree.

No one said anything for a minute, not even Shiro, who had a murderous expression on his face. Allura cleared her throat, “Okay paladins… I am choosing to ignore what just happened to brief you on the mission. We received a distress signal from a nearby planet. We need to get to the lions and go down to the planet’s surface to find out why they sent out the distress signal. Since we don’t know what we are walking into, we must be prepared for anything. Let’s get to the lions.” Allura gave them all a look before heading for Blue. The rest of the paladins followed suit, though Lance kept a wary eye on Shiro, waiting for the older paladin to leave first. What is going on with him… I don’t trust him anymore. Lance stepped into the elevator and took it down to Red’s hangar.

Lance rolled and slashed at the legs of a Galra sentry as he ran down the halls of the Galra base they had infiltrated. The plan was to go in, take down the base, and free the planet. Obviously, that hadn’t happened. The Galra had somehow known they were coming, how did they know we were coming?!

Lance ducked around a corner, “Guys, I could use some help over here. I’m a little pinned down right now!”

“Sorry, bud! I’m a little busy at the moment!” Hunk grunted out over the sound of distant gunfire that was also coming over the coms.

“We’re all pinned, Lance.” Pidge huffed into the mic and cut out after that. Lance changed his bayard into its normal rifle form and shot down a few more sentries as he ran down the hall in the direction of the exit.

“I’m headed your direction, Lance.” Shiro’s voice sounded over the coms and even though Lance still didn’t trust this new Shiro, he really needed the backup.

“Thanks…” Lance fired off a shot and ran down the hallway towards Shiro’s blip on his tracker. He had a bad feeling that he couldn’t shake, but Lance didn’t know what to do other than keep moving.

“Lance! Up here.” Shiro yelled from down the hall. Lance looked up and sped down the hall towards the other paladin.

“Shiro! Thank goodness you’re here. I’m sorry about ea-” Lance was cut off with a wheeze as he was slammed roughly against the wall by a hand on his throat. He looked up with wide eyes at the murderous look on Shiro’s face. “Sh-iro?” Lance wheezed out and kicked out at Shiro.

“I’m not Shiro, you idiot paladin, I’m his clone. Though you had your suspicions already didn’t you.” Not-Shiro grinned as his eyes flashed yellow and he started to tighten his grip on Lance’s neck. Lance wheezed and scratched at the hand encasing his throat, but it didn’t seem to faze the clone, even when blood ran down his hand.

“Wh-what are you g-going to do t-o me?” Lance wheezed out and tried to focus on making his bayard back into its sword form.

Not-Shiro laughed maniacally and started to activate his Galra arm, “I’m going to kill you and blame it on these Galra sentries.”

Lance scowled and felt his bayard change, “You forgot one thing,” he gritted out and struggled against the hold.

“Oh yeah what’s that?” Not-Shiro growled out and started to tighten his hold on Lance’s neck.

Lance slammed his bayard up into Not-Shiro’s chest and shoved him back, “I’m a paladin of Voltron and we don’t go down that easy.” Lance rubbed his throat and watched as Shiro’s form melted away, leaving only the black armor from before. Lance dropped to his knees and gasped for breath.

“Lance! What happened?! Where’s Shiro!” Allura yelled over the coms.

“H-he… he’s not here…. That wasn’t Shiro. He tried to kill me. Oh my god… he tried to kill me.” Lance keened and stared ahead, choking on his breath and shaking. He faintly hear someone calling his name over the coms and when they got no response, cursing sounded out. Lance stared down at the pieces of armor laying haphazardly in front of him. He could hardly believe it… and yet. It made perfect sense now that he knew what was going on. The Shiro that they had let into the castle wasn’t Shiro at all… he was a clone, probably sent by that witch Haggar to spy on them or something. Lance gripped the sides of his helmet and made small panicked noises, it was all too much.

Then everything stopped.

Lance gasped and shot up when he heard the Black lion’s roar.

“It is your time, paladin. You saw that there was something wrong within your team even when the others did not, even when I did not.” The Black lion’s voice was nothing like Blue’s flowing cadence or even the fire behind Red’s words. Black’s voice was calm and collected, sounding much older and experienced than either of the lions that Lance had been connected to before.

“B-but… why? Why would you want the team screw up, the goofball, the resident comedic relief?!” Lance yelled out, unaware and uncaring of his surroundings and the fact that the coms were still relaying everything he said to the team. “Nobody wants me! So why do you?” Lance finished brokenly.

Lance felt Black’s presence wrap around his mind, calming his raging thoughts. “Lance. This is where you were always meant to be. I could not take you as my paladin when you first arrived at the castle because you were not ready yet. Blue had to take you as her cub and nurture you, build you up, before Red or I would be able to have you as ours. It was then Red’s turn to cultivate your fighting spirit. Through all of that, you have become stronger and it is finally time for you to take your rightful place as my paladin.”

“But what about Red? Now she won’t have a pilot and we won’t be able to form Voltron!” Lance looked back to the black armor in front of him. He heard the sound of someone running down the hall behind him but paid no attention to it. Black chuffed in his head and Lance took that as her laughing at him.

“It will be taken care of, Lance. She already has a pilot.” Black sounded amused.

“Keith... “ Lance breathed out. “He’s her pilot.” Black sent him a feeling of content and Lance relaxed as he started to gather up the armor. “We’ll get him back here with us. I’ll call him as soon as we get back to the castle.”

“Lance!” Hunk yelled as he ran up to the newly appointed black paladin. “Lance are you okay! What happened?” Lance turned around and gave Hunk a half smile. His vision was red tinted in one eye, must have popped a blood vessel when I got strangled.

“I’m okay.” Lance said softly, his voice worn out from screaming and getting his throat crushed. “I had to kill him… it wasn’t Shiro.” Lance looked down at the armor in his hands.

Hunk looked horrified, “W-where did his body go?” Lance shook his head and sighed.

“It just kind of melted away, buddy. Come on, help me get this stuff back to the black lion, I’ll explain once we get everyone off the base and back to the castle.” Lance sighed again and started walking towards the black lion, expecting Hunk to follow.

“Lance, what’s going on?” Pidge asked, her voice muddied by the coms.

“Everyone get back to your lions, I’ll explain everything when we get back to the castle.” Lance rasped out, his voice starting to give after the abuse it had been through. Allura and Pidge gave affirmative responses and Lance watched as their blips on his tracker headed towards the lions. Lance relaxed a little when Black came into sight. “I’ve got it from here, Hunk.”

“What do you mean ‘you’ve got it from here’?! You’re not even heading to your lion!” Hunk fretted over Lance, worried that his friend had gotten brain damage as a result of whatever Not-Shiro did to him.

“No, Hunk. I’m finally at the right lion.” Lance smirked and turned back to the Black lion who dropped her jaw as he walked to her ramp. “See you back on the castle, buddy.”

-

Keith sighed and ran a hand over his face, weariness settling in his bones. Lately, it seemed he kept getting put on mission after mission, and since all communications were strictly forbidden while on missions, Keith hadn’t had a chance to get in contact with Lance or the team, and it had probably been months since he last talked with them. He missed it, god did he miss talking to them, especially Lance, he missed him the most out of the whole team. Keith couldn’t explain the pain in his chest that grew every day that he was away, but he tried to ignore it. Even though he couldn’t contact his team, he did have one familiar face, Krolia. After she had revealed to Kolivan their relation, the commander of the Blades started to pair them together on missions.  At first, Keith was less than pleased, after all, this woman was the one who abandoned him when he was young. As they spent more time together and started bonding, Keith’s attitude changed and instead of a cold indifference, he regarded his mother with a warm smile and soft words.

Meeting Krolia and bonding with her was one of the greatest things to ever happen to Keith, not just because he had found out more about his past and got a mother as a bonus, no, Krolia was actually helping him unlock his dormant Galra genes. Turns out, Keith was severely malnourished by Galra standards, a fact that had Krolia fuming at the sight of Kolivan who never thought to introduce Keith to a Galra diet and care regimen. After that discovery had been made, Krolia worked on nurturing Keith’s latent Galra genes, making sure he was getting the right nutrients for a growing Galra and explaining all of Keith’s weird habits. For example, Keith could never get comfortable in a bed, he had to have constant pressure, which was why he always used to wear clothes to bed. What Keith actually needed was to be in a nest, made out of pillows and soft blankets, surrounded by his family or his mate. At least, that was how Krolia explained it to him, and he guessed it made sense, especially after he had made a nest of his own, falling asleep almost instantly once inside it. The nesting wasn’t the end of the Galra mannerisms that Krolia told Keith about, though she mainly seemed to be focusing on mating habits.  

“When a Galra has found a suitable mate, they will bring them gifts to prove they can provide for their chosen.” Krolia casually said as she flew back towards the main base. Krolia had taken to telling Keith of his heritage and such when they headed back from missions. Now was one of those times, they had just finished up with a small scouting mission and were heading back for their next assignment.

“Mom.” Keith said in an exasperated tone. “Why are you so adamant about telling me all these mating habits? I don’t have a mate.” Keith crossed his arms and paced the length of the ship. “I’m barely Galra anyways.” Keith huffed and stopped beside the pilot’s chair so he could look out the window.

Krolia ruffled his hair and scratched behind his ear, “Keith, you are more Galra than you think.  Have you not noticed the changes, my kit?” Keith leaned into her touch and felt a deep rumbling come from his chest.

“I-I… I haven’t really looked into the mirror in a while. I mean… I know my ears have changed. Something like that is kind of hard to miss.” Keith muttered defensively. Krolia laughed at him and tugged at his ear. Keith batted her hand away, “Stop that! That hurts.” Keith growled and flattened his ears. He stopped growling after she got the message to back off a little and let his ears stand back up.

“You did not notice?” Krolia frowned and tilted her head to the side. “How did you not notice the changes, kit.” Krolia cupped Keith’s cheek and turned his head from side to side.

Keith pouted and chewed on his bottom lip, “Like I said, I haven’t looked in a mirror for a while.” He rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, a nervous tick he hadn’t been able to drop, as he looked for a mirror.

Krolia traced something on Keith’s face, “You have my markings.” She smiled fondly, although it looked a little sad. “Do not worry, my kit. All these changes are not bad, they are just signs of your heritage. See for yourself.” She switched the controls over to autopilot and took Keith into the back of the ship where the bathroom was. She turned on the light in the small bathroom and turned Keith to face the mirror.

“Oh… oh my god. Is that really me?” Keith breathed out in shock as he took in his new appearance. His ears had traveled to the top of his head, they were dark purple, fluffy, and distinctly Galra looking. This he knew, well, at least he knew they were on the upper part of his head. He had a mark similar to his mother’s travelling up the right side of his face. His eyes were more feline looking, slanting slightly more than they used to, though Keith was thankful that they weren’t yellow like other part-Galra he had met. Keith grimaced a little and his eyes narrowed in on his teeth. He lifted his top lip, yep those are fangs. He paused when he noticed something else. Am I taller? Keith looked back and forth between him and his mother’s reflections. I am taller! No wonder I can reach the top shelf now!

Krolia met his eyes in the mirror and smiled softly, “Yes, that really is you. Like I have said, do not worry about your looks, your mate will still be happy with you.”

Keith sputtered and whirled around, “My mate?!” Keith’s voice cracked and he felt his skin heat up as a blush covered his face. “I’ve told you I don’t have one!” He felt his ears flatten on the top of his head as a sign of his distress.

“Now that is a lie. I can smell him on you, even though you have been apart for months. Do you not feel it in your chest, that aching need to be by his side, curled around him, and protecting him?” Krolia looked him over and sighed.

“I-I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Keith croaked out and wrapped his arms around himself. He had felt that, every time he thought about Lance his heart skipped a beat and he could feel his soul calling out for the other male. Krolia frowned and turned her back to Keith, heading back to the pilot’s chair. “What are you doing?” Keith asked as he trailed after her.

“I am hailing your team’s ship. You have been away from them for far too long, my kit. You are longing for your team as much as you are longing for your mate.” Krolia looked at Keith as he stepped up beside the pilot’s chair. “You said that you only joined the Blade of Marmora to find out more about your past, correct?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Yes…” Keith said without hesitation and watched as his mother’s eyes softened.

“Then it is settled. You and I are leaving the Blade. There is no reason for us to stay there any longer. Kolivan will understand, especially when we mention that you have been away from your mate for too long. It is not good to let a courtship such as the one you have fizzle out. Your bond is very strong, even with you and your mate not acknowledging it.” Krolia looked away from Keith and inputted the communication code for the Castle of Lions. It only took a few ticks before someone at the castle answered the call.

Keith looked at he screen with concern when it was not Allura or one of the other paladins to answer the call. “Coran? What’s going on? Where is everyone?” Keith questioned, looking around the screen to try to figure out what was happening on the other end of the call.

“Keith! We need you back at the castle. Lance has been trying to reach you for months.” Coran looked over at the screen briefly before focusing back on the battle at hand. “It’s bad, we need Vol-” Coran cut off as the caste shook, jerking him to the side. “Send me your coordinates! Voltron needs you Keith.” Coran gave Keith a frantic look as he readied himself to put in the coordinates.

“Send him the coordinates.” Keith ordered with a grim expression on his face. He hated talking to his mother like that, but the only thing on his mind right then was getting to Lance. Lance needed him, Lance could be HURT! He felt his heart stutter in his chest and his breath came faster.

Krolia placed a hand on his arm, “Calm down, kit. You need to keep your head on straight.” Krolia gave him one last look before she flew through the wormhole that Coran opened for them. Keith let out a long breath and readied himself.

“I can only open the particle barrier for a few ticks, so you must be quick.” Coran said frantically before opening up a small hole near the hangers. “The red lion’s hanger is open, Keith you need to fly the red lion out there and help the other paladins!”

Keith looked a little confused, but readied himself to leave the ship as his mother landed it in the hanger beside the dormant red lion. “Coran… where’s Lance?! Why isn’t he flying Red?” Keith asked frantically after he patched his comms into the castle’s. The ship shook as they took another hit and Keith skidded sideways as he scrambled towards Red.

“There’s no time for that Keith! You need to get out there, we need Voltron!” Coran cut out after that. Keith skidded to a stop in front of Red’s particle barrier and looked up at the sleeping lion.

“Red, please, let me in. I need to help, I need to know what happened to my mate- my Lance.” Keith banged on the barrier and looked up with large indigo eyes at his lion. Red dropped the barrier and Keith rushed up the ramp, hearing a purr of welcome and of urgency in the back of his mind. He dropped down into the seat and grabbed the controls. “Let’s go, Red.” Keith pushed the controls down urging Red out into the battle.

“Wait, the Red Lion just left it’s hanger!” Pidge yelled into the comms.

“Keith…” Lance breathed out, his face popping up on the video feed. Keith felt his breath catch.

“Lance.” Keith croaked out. “I thought… you aren’t in Red!” He looked over the other boy’s face for any sign of distress or injury.

“We have a lot to catch up on, but for now, let’s form Voltron!” Lance grinned and winked at Keith. Keith paused for a moment before shaking his head and flying out to meet the other paladins to join together and form Voltron.

The rest of the battle was a blur of purple lasers and explosions. The brief pain of Voltron being physically ripped apart. Lance could still feel the pain resonating through their bond when they reconnected, not to mention the bruised, maybe even broken, ribs and concussion he was sporting from being thrown around. The battle was over, though, the planet was saved, and Keith was back. Something inside of him was singing out in happiness at seeing the familiar face of Keith, even if he was sporting some new additions to his look. Lance shook his head of his thoughts and landed the Black Lion beside the other lions. He gave her a quick pat as he walked down the ramp to exit the lion.

“Lance!” Keith yelled and Lance looked up just in time to see Keith running full speed for him. Lance’s eyes widened when he was swept up into Keith’s arms and spun around. “I missed you.” Keith said softly into Lance’s hair where he had buried his face.

“You’re taller…?” Lance questioned into Keith’s chest. He felt Keith laugh before the other man took a step back.

“Yeah, I’m almost as tall as my mom now.” Keith grinned, flashing very white teeth and fangs?!

“Wh- you- fangs??” Lance stuttered out, his eyes wide and a small blush covering his cheeks. The blush only deepened when Keith chuckled and took a step back, dropping his arms from Lance’s waist.

“My mom helped to nurture my Galra side and it kind of triggered some of my dormant genes I guess.” Keith shrugged and Lance watched as his ears pressed back a little.

“Are you upset about it?” Lance asked softly, stepping closer to Keith and reached a hand up to trace the mark on Keith’s cheek. “Because I don’t think you should be. You’re still the same Keith to me.” Lance took a deep breath and looked up into Keith’s eyes as he cupped Keith’s cheek. “I still feel the same way I did about you, the same way I’ve always felt about you.” Keith’s eyes widened and his ears perked back up as he leaned into Lance’s hand.

“And how do you feel about me…?” Keith asked softly, aware that the other paladins and his mother were starting to come over to them.

“I think… I think I might be in love with you, Keith.” Lance said just as soft, he could feel his eyes going hazy, reminding him of his injuries, but he really didn’t care at the moment. Keith’s eyes lit up and a rumbling sound that sounded suspiciously like purring came from his chest. He nuzzled into Lance’s hair and wrapped his arms loosely around Lance’s waist.

“I’m so glad. I think I’ve been Galra courting you for months honestly.” Keith said into Lance’s hair, his voice coming out slightly muffled by his purring. Lance’s cheeks flared red and he tipped his head back to look at Keith in the eyes.

“Seriously?” Lance questioned with a tilt of his head. Keith blushed and nodded with a half smile.

“I had no idea until recently honestly. My mom explained it to me more and it makes sense. I always had Galra tendencies, I just never knew what they were.” Keith shrugged. “But now I know, and I can put them to good use.” Keith pulled Lance close again and squeezed him. Lance let out a pained noise and his knees started to give from the pain. Keith let go of his chest and grabbed his hips to hold him up. “Lance?! What’s wrong?” Keith’s eyes were wide with worry. “Did you get hurt! This armor needs to come off right now.” Keith growled and reached for the clasp on the chest piece before he froze. “Black...armor?”

Lance struggled to stay standing. “Mmm fine… my head jus’ feels kinda funny.” Lance slurred out and slumped against Keith again. “Maybe I got hurt more than I thought” was the last thought that ran through Lance’s head before he finally passed out.

Keith whined and held Lance close to his chest, “Lance, Lance! Wake up, wake up!” Keith’s ears were flattened and he was shaking in distress. His mate had just collapsed, he was wearing the wrong armor, and Shiro was nowhere to be seen. His head was definitely not in the right space.

“Keith. We need to get Lance to a pod.” Hunk leaned down into Keith’s view and reached for Lance. Keith growled and flicked his ears back in anger, holding Lance closer to his chest. No one was touching his mate. Hunk withdrew his hand quickly. “Come on, Keith! He needs to go into a pod so we can figure out what’s wrong.” Hunk looked frantic, but Keith couldn’t focus on that.

“Let me take care of this…” Krolia spoke softly to the rest of the team, but due to Keith’s enhanced hearing, he heard her loud and clear.

“And who are you? Are you another Blade member?” Allura asked, her tone none too happy.

“She’s Keith’s mother.” Pidge broke in. “Remember, Lance was telling us that Keith had found her a couple months ago? Plus they have like the same face, so it must be her. You’re Krolia right?” Pidge asked, though Keith’s attention was focused back on the passed out paladin in his arms. He went back to work on quietly and gently removing Lance’s chest piece before he moved onto his arm bracers and finally the leg protectors. He made a small whining noise in the back of his throat and nuzzled into Lance’s hair. Footsteps headed in his direction causing Keith to whip his head up and bare his teeth with a growl. His mother gave him a disapproving look.

“Kit. Your mate is hurt and he needs to go into a healing pod.” Krolia said gently, but her tone was firm. Keith narrowed his eyes and pressed his ears to his skull.

“He’s mine. My mate.” Keith huffed out, seemingly unable to get much more out. He gently ran his fingers through Lance’s hair, brushing it out of his face. Krolia took a few more steps until she was right up in Keith’s space. She put a hand on his shoulder and let out a soothing rumbling noise to calm him down. Keith let out a long breath and visibly relaxed after a few moments.

“I know he is yours, kit. The paladins and I are not trying to take him from you. We want to put him in a pod so he can heal. Do you not want him to heal?” Krolia tipped her head to the side, all the while still letting out the soothing purrs from her chest to keep Keith calm.

Keith whined, “Of course I want him to heal! I will take him there now and afterwards,” Keith paused, flicking his eyes up to the other paladins, “I want answers.” He didn’t wait to see if they would agree before he was up on his feet, Lance tucked safely in his arms. Keith walked briskly to the med bay where Coran had a pod ready.

“Put him in here, Number Four. Though, I may need to rethink my classifications. It seems you have grown since we have last seen you.” Coran smiled at Keith as he opened up a pod for Lance. Keith shrugged and gently placed Lance in the pod, brushing his bangs out of his face, before he stepped back. The glass rose, sealing Lance in the cryopod and starting the healing process.

“How long will he be in there, Coran?” Keith asked without removing his eyes from Lance’s still form suspended in the glowing blue light of the pod.

“Let me take a look.” Coran replied and typed in a command on the console of the cryopod. Keith watched as Coran read over the lines of Altean script on the screen. “He should be out in a few vargas, but he shouldn’t be in there for more than a quintant.” Keith nodded and continued to watch Lance in the cryopod, his ears drooping.

“I wanted to talk to the team about everything that has happened… but I’m not leaving until Lance is out.” Keith said softly to Coran and pressed his forehead against the cryopod. Coran clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder causing Keith to look back at him.

“I will send the team around when Lance gets out. Do not worry so much, my boy, Lance will be okay.” Coran gave Keith a smile and walked out, leaving Keith alone in the room.

“What am I going to do with you…” Keith sighed and stared up at Lance’s still form.

Lance heard a muffled swishing sound before he was suddenly falling forward. His eyes shot open and he flailed for half a second before warm, strong arms stopped his fall. “Wh-what?” Lance croaked out and looked up, meeting Keith’s eyes.

“You passed out… we had to put you in the pods.” Keith said gently, holding Lance closer. “You had two broken ribs and a bad concussion. You had me really worried.” Keith held him tighter and pressed his face into his hair, letting out a small rumbling sound.

“I’m sorry.” Lance pressed his face into Keith’s chest. “I didn’t mean to worry you.” He relaxed a little listening to the rumbling -purring- coming from Keith’s chest. Keith rubbed his hand in circles on Lance’s back.

“Now that I know you’re safe,” Keith pulled Lance back a little to look him in the eyes, “tell me what I missed. Why were you in Black and wearing the black paladin armor? Where’s Shiro?” Keith looked a little frantic.

Lance rubbed his thumb on Keith’s hip, “I’m the new black paladin… no more lion switches. All those switches have been leading up to me becoming the black paladin, at least that’s how Black explained it to me. The Shiro that you brought onto the ship… he wasn’t the actual Shiro. He was some sort of clone controlled by that witch Haggar. He,” Lance paused and ghosted a hand over his own throat, “he tried to kill me.” Keith sucked in a breath and pulled Lance closer, his ears flattening against his skull.

“Where is he? I need to have a word with this clone.” Keith growled out, his fangs bared at the perceived threat to his mate. Lance shook his head and reached a hand up to pet Keith’s ear in hopes of calming him.

“I killed him before he could finish the job.” Lance paused to gauge Keith’s reaction. Sure, he hadn’t killed the real Shiro, but Lance didn’t know how the other would take the news that Lance had been able to kill someone like that.

“Good.” Keith relaxed and tilted his head into Lance’s hand, the purring starting up again. “So what’s the plan, Mr. Black Paladin?” He chuckled a little and smiled down at Lance.

“The plan right now is to look for Shiro as we liberate planets and add them to the Coalition, but…” Lance paused and looked up at Keith with a sly smirk, “I have a feeling you were also wondering about what the plan is for us.”

Keith bit his lip lightly and nodded his head. “I am… Now that we have both acknowledged the courtship a couple things have to happen, otherwise my Galra side will start freaking out.”

“And what are those things?” Lance tilted his head to the side. He knew that he was going to accept Keith’s courtship and agree to be his mate. Contrary to popular belief, Lance did his research, so he knew that Galra mated for life. He was ready for that because he already knew that Keith was everything he would ever want. But… that didn’t mean that Lance couldn’t mess with Keith a little first.

“Well… if you want to be together, you’ll need to verbally accept the mateship and then there’s the physical marking… Also, you need to understand that Galra mate for life… so if you accept, it’ll be like we’re getting married, except if you decide to break it off with me later on…” Keith shivered, “Let’s just say we don’t want to find out what happens.” His eyes traced over Lance’s features, memorizing everything in case he never got this chance again. “So… what do you say?”

Lance feigned like he was thinking, “Well.. I don’t know…” He smirked, “I am a lot to handle… and I know you will be as well. See, I’ve been doing some reading up on Galra habits and I know you’re going to go through some weird stuff.” He watched Keith’s ears droop a little before he reached a hand up to cup Keith’s cheek, “I want you Keith, now and forever.” Lance pushed up on his tiptoes and kissed Keith deeply, catching the half-Galran by surprise. Keith’s grip tightened around Lance’s waist as he pulled Lance closer.

Keith pulled away after a few moments of kissing, “Is that a yes?” He asked breathlessly.

Lance laughed and gave Keith another chaste kiss, “Yes, you big dummy! You’re stuck with me now.”

“I didn’t make such a great leader, but maybe now I can be a great right-hand man and an even better mate. Lance…” Keith breathed out and pressed his forehead to Lance’s, “Lance I love you so so much… I am so glad you said yes.”

Lance smiled softly and rubbed his thumb on Keith’s jaw, “We’re in this together. So, don’t worry, we’ll find Shiro, together, and we’ll finally get our family back in one place.”

“I like the sound of that.” Keith said softly before pulling Lance into another kiss. They may not know where the real Shiro is, but as far as the two of them were concerned, anything was now possible because after all, they do make a great team.

If you enjoy my works, maybe help me out and buy me a coffee?

[kirishwima]

“I just wanted to be normal!” keith? klance

I tried to make this angsty I really did but damn Keith being sad makes my heart break my dude, but here ya go~

*****

There’s something about the still of night that settles with him.

He’s not sure if it’s the quiet, how the only sound he hears is the one of his own breathing, his own feet shuffling on the tiled floor.

Maybe it’s the dark, only the blue fluorescence lights overhead guiding his way, interlaced with glimpses of starlight seeping through tinted windows.

He’s not sure, but something about it calls to him, has been calling ever since he was back on Earth, his feet planted in sand and the cold night air chilling him to his bones.

Sleep is scarce and fitful when it comes to Keith, more so lately than ever before, so he’s taken to wandering the hallways, trying to find sense of the tangles in his head.

What he didn’t expect was to see another pair of feet walking towards him, clashing onto another body before he could ponder who they belonged to.

“Ow, dude! What the quiznak-“

Keith looked up, locking eyes with a wincing Lance that was rubbing the spot on his shoulder where Keith’s head had collided to.

Keith could’ve sworn he saw this…haunted look on Lance’s face for a second, eyes hollow and lips tugged into an apathetic line, before his face lit up, going straight into his dramatic antics that Keith was so used to by now.

“Could you warn a guy next time before you go smashing your head onto him?”

He shrugged, mumbling a quick sorry, mentally figuring out ways to escape this situation.

Lance talked a little more before his eyes settled onto Keith’s face, an eyebrow quirking.

“So why are you up at this time anyway?”

“Can’t sleep” Keith shrugged. It was true, and to the point.

“You too huh” he heard Lance mumble,  gaze downcast before he perked back up again, a coy smirk on his mouth and a glint in his eyes that Keith knew by no meant nothing good.

“Well, there’s only one thing left to do when insomnia strikes” Lance grinned, taking a hold of Keith’s hand before he could even question Lance’s motives, tugging him forward with a quick walk.

When did they come to this?

When did they go form spitting venomous words to each other to…this? To holding each others hand down dark hallways, to holding each others gaze longer, smiling more, talking more?

It’s not that Keith disliked it-quite the contrary, having Lance become a constant in his everyday life felt comfortable, brought an instinctive smile to his mouth that he never thought he could sport.

Was this what friendship was? Or was this just a Lance thing? What exactly were they?

He didn’t have time to question it further, before Lance came to a halt in front of an opened door, catching Keith off guard as he stumbled to a stop, nearly toppling onto Lance’s back.

Lance let go of Keith’s hand, switching the lights of the room on and striding in it with a purpose.

“Lance…why are we in the kitchen?”

Lance said nothing, choosing instead to go to the back end of the counters, opening up a cabinet Keith could’ve sworn he never even noticed before.

He walked besides Lance, taking notice of the item Lance took a hold of and tugged out of the cabinet, raising it in front of Keiths’ face with a knowing smirk.

“Wait…is that nunvil?!” Keith asked, observing the light blue bottle coloured with flowers, a soft pink liquid swirling inside it.

“That is nunvill indeed” Lance grinned, securing his grip on the bottle as he walked outside the kitchen and back into the hallway.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking but it’s probably a bad idea-“

“I’m always full of bad ideas” Lance shrugged, as he  began to walk away, “Now are you up for some late night stargazing or?”

Keith sighed, following after Lance with a small sprint.

He just hoped they wouldn’t get in too much trouble.

***

It’s a few hours later and a few chugs of nunvill after, that finds them sitting on the steps of the observation deck, a glass-covered wall ahead of them giving them a full view to the expanding space around them, coloured planets and glinting stars all around, feeling so familiar yet so foreign at the same time.

Lance, not really much to Keith’s suprise, was chatty when tipsy. But he was also chatty when not-tipsy so Keith wasn’t sure what he expected, really.

He talked about space, about hair, about how Keith should ‘go visit a space hairstylist. Anything would be better than sporting a mullet’ and whatnot.

There was an eventual quietness, both of them content to just drown in their own thoughts for a while.

“So why were you up anyway?” Lance asks after a while, eyes still locked to the window, his fingers toying with the bottle of nunvill.

“I told you, I couldn’t sleep.”

Lance eyed him for a moment, expression unreadable to Keith.

“No, why were you really up? Why couldn’t you sleep?”

Keith’s first instinct was to avert the question, set his defences up and cower. It wasn’t..it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lance. 

It’s just that he couldn’t trust himself.

But there were blue eyes locked onto him, and a warmth besides him that combined with liquid courage made him sigh, shutting his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts.

“I…I don’t really sleep much. There’s so much going on inside my head that if I try and sleep the thoughts won’t let me and, it’s…hard.” he tried, his tongue stumbling over the words, unused to expressing the emotion that was constantly lodged in his throat.

“I’m not, normal. I don’t feel normal, not with all of this” Keith waved his hand towards the windows and the Castle, “and not before it either. I always felt that there’s something off, something-something wrong with me and I couldn’t figure out what or why” he continued, his chest tightening with every word, heart beating faster.

“It’s just been so hard, I’ve always had so many questions about who I am and where I belong and what I’m just-what I’m doing with my life and it felt so hopeless so often and then we got thrown into this intergalactic fight and suddenly I discover that I am weird, I am the odd one out that kids used to bully me about, I am the fuck-up that I thought I was, hell, I’m not even human not entirely I just-“

he sighed, rubbing at his eyes and hoping he wouldn’t feel them wet to the touch.

“I just wanted to be normal…but I guess I was asking for too much” he concluded, and yeah, his eyes were brimming with tears now.

Damn nunvill. Damned feelings.

In his frenzy, he never noticed Lance moving, not until he felt a hand cover his where it was resting on the floor, warm fingers interlacing with his, Lance’s body turned towards him.

“Yeah, you’re right. You’re not normal.”

Keith rolled his eyes, feeling the tears escaping at the action.

“Well ok, thanks-“

“Nothing about this situation is normal” Lance continued, “You’re just, you’re trying so hard to find answers to open-ended questions and it’s hard but you’re here and you’re trying your best, and no matter what you’re still…you.”

He brought his other hand to gently flick Keith’s forehead, a small smile on his lips.

“You’re our resident emo mullet king. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. So what if you’re half alien or weird or whatever?”

Keith snorted, a small smile finding itself on his lips, tears still streaming down his face.

“You do have a place you belong in, and it’s right here,” Lance huffed, nodding towards the Castle, “and no one can or will ever take that from you. And it’ll always be here, wether you find answers to your questions or not.”

Lance looked down for a minute, before locking eyes with Keith, the starlight reflecting off of him as he did, casting shapes and illuminations onto his skin.

“It’s a weird situation and just…it’s okay to vent and want help in times like that, okay?”

Keith could do little else but nod, the warmth on his face matching the one in their interlaced fingers, tears steadily coming to a halt.

They stayed like that for a while, content in each others’ quiet presence, giving Keith time to slowly recollect himself.

There was comfort in the way Lance had looked at him, and even if he offered no solutions, he offered him something Keith direly needed-a reaffirmation that he belonged.

“So..why were you awake?” Keith asked eventually.

Lance shrugged.

“I was actually just up to get some water and stumbled upon your mopey butt”

It felt like a lie, the way Lance’s shoulders stiffened, how his eyes were locked onto the sky ahead of them.

Keith decided not to push it, but squeezed Lance’s hand a little tighter, in hopes of seeing another smile on the boy’s lips.

******

Keith crying in canon will be the death of me i s2g

from these prompts

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[noxitic-blog]

Foundation

Some langst i thought up of

•Lance is jealous that Keith has Shiro , Pidge has Hunk , Coran has allura . He felt left out and unfit for the group . He truly left like a 7th wheel .

•Lance is still insecure and never had reassurance , so he thought it would be best to just leave and go back to earth .

•he thinks leaving would be the option since allura had taken over the blue lion . Plus he would be able to see his family again . (Though he doesnt really want to leave because the palladins are also his family)

•he decides to pack at night and he goes up To blue to say goodbye and tells her she will always be his lion and he goes to red and thanks her for accepting him and his voice starts to crack and ends up crying and he says take care of keith cause he can be hot headed

 •He went inside his space pod and took one last sigh and remembered all the times he had with his friends . How he looked up to Shiro , How he will miss his bestfriends cooking , being a brother figure to Pidge while still looking for matt , becoming good friends with allura , seeing coran as his uncle and lastly , how now overcame the rival stage with keith and became close friends with him .

• He hesistates for a moment , but continues anyway . His last words were “ I know you guys can do it . Goodluck on defending the universe" and rides off into space .  

 •Next morning  , they were to report to a meeting to discuss their next attack on lotor . Once all of them was there , they questioned the absence of Lance . They probably thought he overslept or totally forgot about the meeting , so they decided to go to his room .  They knock on his door , but he there was no answer , so they all went inside . They looked around and he was no where to he found , but they saw a paper on his bed that says . “Im sorry I couldnt tell you any of this , but I left to go back to earth . I miss my family . I- I really appreciate the time we all had together and defending the universe with you guys” . P.S , Allura , take care of blue for me .  

 • 3 days has passed , Lance not knowing where he is , not knowing how many light years he is  from earth . The silence of the space pod , was uncomfortable for him . He enjoyed hearing the laughter and the voices from his friends , feeling a tear form in his eyes he tells himself , “its okay , its okay he wipes his tears and says

• “dont regret any of this . Theyre better off without me ”

 •His space pod is running out of fuel and hes also running out of supplies to eat . He had no option , but to go to the closest planet . Strangely enough it was the balmera planet . 

 •He landed safely in the balmera planet , he looked around to see the planet was lively and safe . He was shocked when he heard a girl say “hey , arent you hunks friend?” He turned around to see shay . 

, he remembered her when they were fighting and protecting the balmera from getting destroyed . Also , Hunk wouldnt stop talking about her and how grateful he was to have met her . The boy was totally inlove with her . He smiled as memories flood in of him and hunk in the kitchen , while hunk was preparing to make a special meal , Lance was just sitting ,  staring at his bestfriend prepare the meal while , he talked about the love of life . He was talking about how Shay was a very nice person and hunk had such a soft look on his face while talking about her . and Lance just smiled at his bestfriend , glad that hes found someone he was fond of . He also questions if he , himself wil also find someone he can talk about so proudly and fondly of . Then Lance , remembered how Allura and Keith were getting closer and how bothered he was by it . 

“I hate his stupid mullet so much “ Hunk turned around and gave Lance a weird look . “Are you talking about Keith ?” Lance nodded , it was him alright his rival per say , although they were getting closer to one  another so we had no say of where their relationship stand was at the moment . 

Hunk asked “do you actually hate him? “ Lance looked at Hunk weirdly , he was caught off guard with the question . Honestly , he never did , he never hated the guy . not at all . its quite the opposite , he respected him a lot due to his abilities  , he was envious of him . he would never say this to Keiths face , but hes axtually glad to be his rival . His thoughts were interupted when Shay was waving a hand in front of him , asking him if hes alright . 

“O-ohh What was that ? ,  sorry I was thinking about something” Lance sighed , hunk would be so jealous of him right now , he’d been dying to see Shay . Shay looked at lance with concern , but with a tint of curiosity , “Are the other palladins with you ? “ Shay was looking at Lance for an answer , Lance just looked at her , sweat dropped down his forehead . how was he going to explain all of this to her ? . 

“Oo-oh no just me and my handsome self ✨” Lance tried to hide the the overcoming feeling of  sadness and guilt with a smile . Shay noticed this a bit , but decided to nodd it off . “Oh I see , so what brings you here palladin?” . Lance was stuck in a turmoil , should he tell her ? Should he tell her hes just visiting ? It wouldnt be bad to tell her right? She had no way to contact Hunk so he wouldnt know and they wouldnt come looking for him . He needed to leave fast . 

“Why would he leave us ? “ Hunk slid back on the couch , looking up at the ceiling , worried about what happened to his bestfriend , if hes okay , if the galrans captured him . A lot of negative thoughts circled his mind. He knew his bestie wouldnt just up and leave . He knew something was wrong . “well he did say in the letter , he missed his family , so thats what motivated him to leave “ Pidge replied as she was typing on her computer trying to get coordinates of Lotors where abouts .  “I know that , but I think theres more to this than what we see “ Shiro replied as he walked back and forth across the room trying to think of ways to get a hold of Lance , also worried about his safety . Keith was silent throughout this , but his mind is jumbled of thoughts that occurred during the bedroom scene . Now recalling it , Lance did go to him , saying he would step down since he wasnt needed . They were getting closer or so he thought . Everytime he was getting closer to Lance , Lance goes farther away and Keithwas now angry . Lance didnt tell him anything about leaving . His head hurt . Did lance think he was useless to the team? Did he feel inferior ? His train of thoughts were interrupted when Hunk shot up from his slouch position , and screamed “ We have to go find him” everybody looked at Hunk , they knew he was serious . He was , Lances bestfriend afterall . 

“But Lotor can be roaming around and we need to find him . We dont have time to look for Lance” Keith lashed out . Keith now regretting what he said , he was angry at Lance for leaving the group . . Just leaving a piece of letter behind and went on with his life . What about his duty as a palladin? He thought Lance was being selfish . His own selfishness will cause the group to be in disaray . He looked at Hunk and saw a painful look on Hunks face  . Hunk sighed and replied . &ldquo ,no one stopped you when you tried to look for your brother (Shiro) , but you cant stop me when im looking for my bestfriend . If you guys arent coming with me , im going alone “ Hunk was determined to find Lance . He knew something was wrong , he knew Lance enough to know when he did something irrational , it was due to his inner turmoil . All that said he needed to go look for him . 

“Um my space pod kind of ran out of gas , but Ill just stay here for a bit to rest and look for some supplies , if thats alright with you guys?“ nbsp;“ Lance looked at Shay for an answer just responded  “"oh okay , please come, youre more than welcome , meet the other balmerians , we will be happy to help , since you saved us “ Lance was happy Shay was here . She was a calming person to be around , and also glad that theyre giving him hospitality . Also , he was all alone to a kind of new enviornment so , he wasnt fully relaxed yet . 

Keith looked at Hunk and wanted to apologize  , but was already walking away .  Keith got up to catch up to Hunk , only to for the both of them to be stopped by Allura . “You guys just , please lets all calm down and talk this through , I know we are all sad about Lance , but we need to make a plan before actually going out to look for him ”

They both stopped in their tracks , surprised that Allura isnt going to tell them that we need to move on , just like she did with Shiro , but to come up with a plan to help look for him .

“I dont want him to end up alone , hurt and discomfort . I dont want him to go through what Shiro went through , so lets take precautions .” They all looked at Allura and smiled . Shiro went through a lot and went through more . She didnt want the same thing happening to Lance . She became good friends with Lance and she didnt want this friendship to tarnish . Moving on didnt help Shiro and the team . It made them mature yes , but the wound was still there .

Hunk started to walk back and Keith stopped him and apologized “Hunk , look , im sorry , I - it came out wrong and I didnt mean to say it that way ” Hunk also apologized for acting irrational “its okay buddy , and im sorry to , I just , I just worried about him . They gave each other weak smiles and walked back to the couch .

“Iv never seen Hunk so serious before , nice job keef ” Keith was about to retort , but only gave her a look . He wanted to keep his tempure on check , since backlashing isnt going to help anything . She snorted  and continued to look up at her computer screen . she stopped looking for Lotors coordinates , but instead was looking for a way to locate Lances location . This was harder than she thought since they had no knowledge of what kind of Pod Lance used . Pidge didnt want to show that she was concerned about Lance , but in reality she really was . She was like his brother and now for him to walk out of her life like that felt like Matt was leaving her all over again . It hurted her . She didnt want to experience the pain all over again .

Shay led Lance to were a bunch of balmerans were . It looked to be a gathering of some sort . “Here lance have some food ” Lance took the food and gave it a weird look , questioning what it was , why did it look so pink and gooey , but Lance had no choice , since his stomach was practicaly screaming to be full .

“Lets do a little introduction , heres my family , thats my brother Rax , my grandmother Rena  , my father rox  , and my grandmmother Rilla” Lance bowed and pointed his gun fingers at them and greeted them . “Hey there the names , Lancey Lance , but you can call me handsome ✨” they all looked at him and gave a nervous laugh and sweat dropped. They didnt know how to react to such a behavor . Rena walked up to Lance and gently grabbed his arm , “youre more than welcome to be here , after saving us from such tragic . ” her smile was warm and big . Lance felt a gush of happiness , she reminded him of his Abuelita from back home . Her sweet singing , her good cooking , he- all of sudden tears start streaming from his eyes . 

He really missed his mother  hugs , his grandmothers hugs , the rain , the verardo beach , his little cousins , but he also missed playing on Pidges computer and using her headphones to listen to music , watching Hunk cook and charting with him about everything , training with Shiro , having small talks with Allura , helping coran clean the healing pods and Keith , he missed Keith , and His stupid mullet , he misses bickering with him . Everything was crashing down on him . He was so tired . He hated the feeling of not being of use to the team , he hated feeling like a hindurance to the team . Tired . Tired of everything . Tired of being away from both of his homes at the same time . His home at the castle of lions and his home art earth . Rena took Lances arm and asked if he was alright , Lance looked at her and he couldnt do it anymore , he hugged Rena , and poured out his heart . “Im so sorry” his voice cracked “im so selfish , im not a good friend , i-i Im so useless I hate mysel-” Rena hushed him and held him in her arms . Lance held on to Rena , he could feel his legs give out . They both fell on the floor , Lance still clutching onto Rena. Rena told the other balmerans to leave them be , except Shay . 

Shay looking sympathetically towards Lance , wishing she could help him anyway possible . She wished Hunk was here to also help him . She sar next to Lance and Rena . The tears wouldnt stop , he wanted to go home , but he didnt know which home . With the palladins or with his earth family . A fee moments later Lance fell in a slumber sleep . Shay ruffled Lances hair and wiped tears away , she looked at Grandma Rena and asked , “Do you think Lance will be okay? ” Rena looked at Lance , she thought that poor guy looked like he was having a hard time with himself , but he looked a bit relaxed in his sleep . “Yeah he will be fine . He just needs time . “ 

 Pidge pulled up a map of the galaxy “Okay so Lance shouldnt be that far from us , his space pod should only get him a atleast 2 if not three planets away from us ” Allura inserted , ” there are three possible planets that he went to since hes ran out of gas . First planet is Robus X , Ubio and lastly the Balmera Planet . . Hunk walked up to the map and closely looked up at the three planets . He examined them one by one . Robus X and Ubio was out of the list , he looked at the balmeran planet , he has a hunch he might be there . “you guys , I feel like Lance would be in the Balmera planet” Pidge looked at Hunk and grinned . Pidge went up to Hunk and lightly poked his stomach and teased him “ you just want to see your girlfriend ” . Allura , Shiro and Keith and Coran just looked at each other and shrugged . “No-no you guys , im being serious , I have a feeling hes there ” They all looked at him and remembered how Hunks hunches were somewhat accurate . And everybody decided they would put faith in Hunks hunch . Shiro walked up to Hunk and placed his hand on his shoulders and smiled at him . “ Okay Coran and Allura , lets go to the Balmera Planet “ Coran and Allura got into their position and opened up a black hole in front of them . A black hole that goes right into the Balmeran Planet .In everybodies head , they hope Hunk is right and that he is there and safe . 

 Opening his eyes was harder than he thought . He felt like his eyes were shut with glue . He was laying down on the floor a rock as a pillow , but somehow it felt really soft . Shay saw Lance shuffle on his sleep , and shook his shoulders a bit . “H-hey youre awake now , are you alright?” Lance looked up to see Shay , Smiling, but her eyes seemed so concerned about him . Lance got up and looked around the room to look for Rena . “Hey , im alright , thanks shay , by the way , wheres Rena?” Shay got up and grabbed a Cloth and put a bit if water on it and handed it to Lance . “Shes making us food at the moment , I wanted to help , but I wanted to tend to you ” Lance smiled and grabbed the cloth and wiped his face with it . He probably looks terrible from all that crying and sniffing . “Food is ready , im glad youre awake Lance ” Shay got up and helped Rena set up the table and food .  

Lance felt so bad , he felt like hes been taking advantage of them , first he comes uninvited to their planet and take their supplies to embark on his journey to earth , where he literally has no idea which way it is, next He showed him how weak he was by crying infront of them and now he is being fed .This is too much . He is always recieving , but never giving back . He Couldnt stay here any longer , he needed to leave . He didnt want to inconvinence them any longer so Lance has decided . “Hey Rena and Shay thanks for everything , but youve done enough , I cant take anymore from you guys , thank you. I really need to get going Ladies” Lance gets up to leave only to be stopped by Rena 

. “Please stay to eat , you need it ” He looked at Shay and Rena , eyes were pleading to stay with them , he was about to retort , but he sighed and gave in . Theyre too nice of a person to say no to . All of three started to walk towards the table and pick at their food . Lance looked at his food and back at both Shay and Rena . He was truly , thankful , for these two. They also reminded him of his sister and his grandma . Rena noticed Lance staring at her and smiled , “ Something the matter ? ” Lance looked away still a smile on his lips and tells them of how the three of them eating reminded him of his sister and grandma. “Ahh , I see , why dont you tell us more about your earth family ? ” Shay asked excitedly . 

Lance realized he has only known these two for only in a short amount of time , but he didnt hesitate to tell them at all . It felt natural to tell them , natural to talk to them . Hes about to tell them his life story . Not that he wouldnt mind , its just that , it felt like hes been knowing them forever , Thats a good sign . Or a weak sign because he trusts too easily , but he knows deep in his heart , these people are too be trusted . “W-well , I have a big family at home . I have 3 little cousins , 2 brothers and 2 sisters , Im the oldest one and of course my grandma , my mother and my dad . ” Lance smiled as he remembers his hometown and his friends and his favorite beach in the world . The verardo beach . “Our family would always go to the beach , even when its cold . We are commitsd to Tuesday Beach Day . Lance laughed and continued ” I always look after my brothers and sisters at home while my parents where away from work. My mom is has a resturant and my dad helps with the cooking . Also , My mother gives the best hugs!!“ Lance remembers during his birthdays , his other siblings birthdays , relatives birthday , or any holiday . There would always be a lot of food . And a lot of people would come over friends and family . It would get crazy and loud , but fun. “My grandma , she also gives the best hugs , I cant say whose hugs i like more , but theyre both the best ” Lance paused to eat some of his food and continued “ My three cousins , are a big pain in the butt to take care of . Seriously they run around all over the place ! . One time they tied me up and put my hair in a pony tail !” Rena and Shay in unison laughed , Rena thought . Lance had such a vibrant and all around fun family . Of course , there will always be discourse here and there , but would it really be a family if there wasnt ? Rena stopped laughing and wiped the tear from her eyes “Your family must be really fun to be with , truly they do love and miss you .” Lance smiled turned into a frown he thought “ love and miss me huh? , I wonder if they do , I wonder if theyre looking for me and or even remotly remember me at all” lances train of thought interrupted when Rena asked

 ” so , what about your palladin family?“ Lance looked up to Rena and hesistated to answer for a sec , but proceeded . "W-well , um theres 7 of us . 2 beautiful ladies , Allura , shes really smart and shes an altean princess and super strong , youve met her before . Theres Pidge , shes a gremlin ,but shes my little sister kinda , shes tech savy and really smart . Theres Coran , hes like my uncle , he makes me help him clean the healing pods , I really found it boring at first , but now I have fun cleaning it with him since he now puts music . Theres Shiro , hes the man I look up to the most , hes a great leader and I aspire to be like him one day . Also , hunk , my best bud , my man , been knwoing that guy ever since , super humble , hes really smart and handsome . Anyone would be lucky enough to be his girlfriend. Lance glanced over at Shay and Shay looked away with tinted pink cheeks . He couldnt wait for Shay and Hunk to actually be together . They would give Lance cavity . Lance laughed , and continued . Last , but not least , ugh mullet guy . “This guy , him and his stupid mullet . I mean hes not a bad guy , but he ignored me when we went to garrisons together , but then he gets mad over me not remembering our “bonding moment” , and now he became my rival , well , not really anymore I think . Lance puts his spoon down and puts his hand under his chin and raised his eyebrows “ I mean , well . I dont think hes my rival anymore , I guess were friends now ? I mean , Hes a cool guy flying into asteroids and cool junk like that. So ,I dont hate him that much , well I dont hate him , I dont think I ever hated him . I guess I want to he friends with him , but I dont know , I think he hates m- Lance stopped when the room filled with Laughter from both Shay and Rena 

. "I think you like this guy , I think youre mixing your feelings with hate and like and rivalry ” Lance looked at them with an unamused face with a tint of blush on his cheeks . “Who would like him? Anyway , I mean ” Lance remembers their bonding moment , (vividly) , when they held hands , when keith gave him the softest smile when he saved up from a flying sword , Keith smiling fondly at him when he made a joke about being the sharpshooter . Their backs touching one another when they were stuck on the elevator. Lances face was now a full on tomato, he turned to look away from the two of them. This is so embarrassing . “Stupid brain , stop THINKING ABOUT HIM , HIS MULLET , HIS FACE, HIS LIPS , WHY WOULD I LIKE HIM WE ALWAYS BICKER , HE HATES ME , BUT WE PROTECT EACH OTHER FROM HARM , I MEAN THATS WHAT EVERY COUPLE DO RIGHT?!?! WAIT WHY AM I COMPARING US TO A COUPLE? gaah STUPID BRAIN  

"You have an amazing family Lance ” Lance now calm , looked at his plate and back at Rena . “yeah , theyre the best . I miss them ” Lance grabbed a spoonful and continued to eat . “ Why are you trying to leave your family? ”

as he was about to eat his food , he paused midair and slowly put the spoon down . “W-well , its , just that I feel that Im not good enough to be on the voltron team” Rena and Shay concerned about him. “so this is what was bothering the kid?” Rena thought . Both her and Shay got up from their seats and hugged Lance . Rena and Shay ruffled his brown hair . “Lancey , my boy , Sometimes the world feels like its against us , sometimes its not the world , its our ourselves that we are fighting ” Lance listened contently . Shay continue “you know , Lance , when I have a problem , usually I can fix it myself , but if Im not able to . I have my friends and family . If they have a problem , I would also give them a helping hand because thats what friends and family do . You dont have to always shoulder your burdens , you have plenty of shoulders to lean on . If you dont have a shoulder to lean on you can have arms ” Both Rena and Shay wrap their arms around his shoulders . 

 "A strong foundation that can keep you up from falling down” Lance was shocked , he never felt so much love in this while , he starts to grab both of their arms and hug them . Tears streaming down his facewhile continuously saying “thank you guys so much ”. This moment , was a moment Lance , will truly forever cherish . He was so grateful to have met these two . It felt like he had just made another family , He showed them his beautiful and darkside and they embraced it . They embraced him . They accepted him and helped him even when he was just a stranger who just landed on their planet for resources . Their hospitality and love that was graced upon him and honestly he felt like he didnt deserve it ,but accepted it whole heartedly . Rena and Shay felt happy for Lance to be able to pour out his feelings , though they werent sure , if his self doubts would continue , but he would know now himself that people care about him . All three of them crying and hugging each other was interrupted when they heard a loud sound coming from outside . All of them , looked at each other , wipping each others tears and looked outside to see what was all the commotion 

. Lance shocked to see the ship , he also questioned how they were able to track him down , but then he remembered they had Hunk and In the team , so it wasnt that impossible to do so . But He was now feeling guilty and selfish and useless all over again . He now burdened the team more by making them waste their time trying to locate him , when instead should be focusing on locating Lotor and find out about his plans . Everyone gathered to see a small space pod landing . The door opened , Revealing the palladins and the princess . Shay looked over and saw Hunk , she was quite nervous , but happy so see him . Shay started to run towards the crowd and waved at Hunk . They both run towards each other and hug one another . 

  Hunk was now blushing furiously , unable to speak the words he wanted to speak “ H-hey Shay ! Lon-ng time no see ! ” Shay laughed at his stuttering and smiled at him , “ its good to see you again” The palladins caught up to hunk and shay . Shay saw the others coming up behind Hunk . Shay walked up to allura and greeted her . “ Princess Allura and palladins its good to see you guys again , how can he help you?” “Our friend has gone missing and we were wondering if you had seen him? ” Keith nervously looking around and hoping to see Lance , but there was no sign of him at all . Maybe he wasnt in this planet , maybe they were wasting all this time that he was at another planet . Wasting time when they could help him he was out there stranded or wounded “Are you refering to Lance? ” Keiths train of thoughts stopped as he heard  Lances name . He was here? Where is he ? Keith started to look around at the people . 

 Rena and Lance looked at the crowd gathering around the palladins . Lance was super anxious to approach them , he had no way out now . He needed to apologize to them for burdening them . Rena looked up at Lance and placed a hand behind his back. And looked back at the crowd . “you dont have to yet go my son , but I know youre itching to see them again” Rena turned to Lance again finding him in a turmoil . Lance didnt have a choice , they were already here so might as well go with him and explain to them whats happening with him . Talking to Rena and Shay really helped and cleared his mind a bit . Lance hugged Rena “ Granny Rena , thank you for everything” and walked off to see the palladins . He was nervous , what if they kill him?well thats not really possible . But what if they hate him now? What if theyre just here so they could tell him theyre glad to leave him behind ? Either way he/ prepared with anything theyre going to say towards him .

 "Hes here? Allura asked and Shay nodded . Every one was shocked and happy to find out that hes landed here . Hunk sighed in relief and questioned “so where is- “Im here” Lance answered he had his other hand on his neck . Rubbing it back and fourth and the other hand on his pocket trying to look for something to pick at . 

Everyone turned and looked at Lance , they saw that he had red puffy eyes , ragged clothes and looked like he hasnt been eating or sleeping in months . Pidge , Allura , Coran and Hunk start to run towards him and hug him tightly . Lance wasnt expecting that at all . He expected to be reprimanded at . Expected to be hated . His thoughts were stopped when all of them started screaming in unison . 

 “MY BESTFRIEND HOW COULD YOU , WHO WAS I GOING TO NOW WHEN I MAKE EVERYONE FOOD ?!?! ” Hunk sobbed , he was grateful Lance was safe . He wouldnt be able to live if his bestfriend was harmed and or dead . “I HATE YOU - I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO BE LIKE MATT AGAIN , DONT DO THIS AGAIN OR I WONT LET YOU USE MY HEADPHONES TO LISTEN TO SHAKIRA !! “ Pidge hugged Lances waist tightly . She was glad that Lance was safe , but she now haded to reprimand him later , if he ever decides to leave again , no shakira or laptop for a month . Coran screaming , “MY SONNNNN , MY SONNN YOU ARE SAFE , I FELT LONELY CLEANING THE PODS MYSELf ” Coran clinging on to his feet . Coran has lost many people in his life . Thr first gen Palladins . He didnt want to lose the other . He was glad he was safe . Shiro placed a hand on Lances shoulder and smiled at him “ Im glad youre safe ” . Shiro was reliefed that Lance wasnt captred by the galra . He was in good care and thats all that mattered . Allura hugged lances back “ YOU DARE LEAVE US ,HOW COULD YOU I FELT BETRAYED , I WAS WORRIED WE WOULDNT SEE YOU AGAIN ” Allura cried . She was began to start a new friendship with Lance and for Lance to be gone wouldve left a wound on her .  

Keith was in the back watching the commotion , he sighed contently . He was glad that Lance was okay , but still a bit mad for leaving them . Keith decided to walk up slowly to them . “H-ey , we’re glad to have our sharpshooter back. ” Keith blushed and looked away , he didnt know what say at the time other than that .maybe saying welcome back couldve been better ? .

 Everybody was now looking at Lance and Keith . Keith was embarrased to look back at Lance , but he looked anyway to see Lances reaction . Both starring at one another . Lance looked like a riped tomato . He can barely hold himself to say something . Now everybody was interested to see where this was going . “W-why are you blushing mullet?!?!” “I SHOULD BE ASKING you that , why are you blushing?!!” Keith was now embarrsed . He wished the ground undrr him would open up and swallow him . He decided that he would walk away and walk back small space pod . “Keith wait , I wanted to talk with you and everybody” Keith stopped and looked back at Lance and started walking back towards him . He remembers that he still hasnt told them the reason why he actually really left . He left them hanging , with an excuse at that . Its understandable that youd want to see your family again , but it still didnt add up , knowing Lance , he wasnt a selfish person , not at all . There was much more than "I just want to see my family”

Everybody stopped clinging on to Lance and was now facing him , waiting for an explaination . Lance took a deep breathe and told himself its okay you can do this . You can tell them . Just be yourself and tell them . After all , theyre your family . You 2 new families . The palladins and Shay and Rena.

 “I-im sorry , for being a burden again , I-” Dang it , Lance thought the tears are forming again and he still havent even gotten far into his explaination yet . Everybody looked at Lance , sending worried looks on his way . Shay and Rena walked over to Lance and gave him a patt on the back . He looked at both of them and he nodded . He breathed in and out and continued “I-I left because I thought that ……I was … I-I felt like a burden to the team . A useless weight …….. Allura has the blue lion , S-Shiro was back so he was going to take Black from Keith and Keith would want his Red back , why should I be there ? I dont have a purpose anymore …. I think. I think everybodies inferior to me , Pidge is smart , Hunk is also smart , Shiro is a leader , Allura was powerful , Coran also had knowledge and Keith , Keith I , I also admired you . I- I just I was just I just - I just felt miserable being around with people whos abilities are off the charts , but now thinking about it and thinking about thr times I-I had with the team “ Lance stopped , his breathing patterns were off and the tears in his eyes were getting heavier . "I- I felt more miserable when I left you guys ” Lance cradled himself and crying . Everybody shocked and tears filled their eyes . They went up to Lance and hugged him . “Lance , the lion switch was temporary , dont worry about it . Youre not a burden to the team . Not at all . Youre far from that . We became good friends now , you always have my back , im super thankful for you . ” Allura assured Lance . Hunk pulled lance in a crushing hug and screamed “ Why would you think that? You saved us plenty of times ! Youre my bestfriend , I know we always joke around , but really youre important to us !! I dont like seeing you hurt buudddy ” Hunk safely Landed Lance down And Pidge started hugged Lance again in the waist “ I never thought you were a burden , i think youre a great friend Lance , thank you for being a good substitute brother” Lance cried more loudly , this was it , this was what he needed . Reassurance from the team . Ressurance that he was needed and loved by his teammates or better yet , his family . Lance pulled Hunk , Pidge and Allura in a tight embrace . Shiro walks up and patts him in the head , Lance looks up at Shiro and smiles “we never once thought you were a burden ,not at all . Youre a great sharpshooter Lance . Youre always improving and honestly you improved the most so far . ” Shiro got a bit teary eyed . Lance was like his brother to him , (well maybe brother in law in the future if things work out between him and keith) Coran interjected “ NOOOO MY SON , MY GORGEROUS SON , NEVER THINK NEGATIVELY ABOUT YOUR SELFFFF ” Coran lifted his hand up to Lances hair and ruffled them . "You make all of us proud my son ”

 Keith was watching his teammates sob and cradle Lance . He wouldve been lying if he said he didnt want to , but he wasnt to keen in showing public diplay of affection . He walked up to them slowly . Hunk , Shiro , Pidge , Allura and Coran stop hugging Lance and looked at Keith coming up towards them . They all looked at each other and smiled and walked away from Lance . Lance was now confused , was Keith going to punch him? Yell at him? What what?

Keith walks up to Lance pulls on the hem of his shirt and places his forehead against his. Everybody was shocked by this . Pidge took out her made shift phone and started taking pictures . The picture was quite perfect with greenish lighting , but also sun arraying on them . The other palladins saying sighing contently saying finally . Keith sighed and looked at where he is gripping Lances shirt “I-im not good with words , but next time you have a problem , come to me , dont go far away from me , come and i-ill open my arms wide for you to hug .” Keith looks  up at Lance for an answer and they both felt liked the world stopped when theyre eyes met  . They were inches apart . Inches from closing the gap between them .  

Everybody was starring at them intensely while , Keith and Lance starred at each other for a while blushing madly . Keith was getting embarrassed and weird stares that peope are giving them . Also to his weird little speech towards Lance . Keith lets go of Lances shirt and turns the other way “A-anyway thats all . lets go home” All of sudden , everybody was screaming sounding dissapointed “NO KISSS?!?!” Keith and Lance now frozen in their place . Lance looked like he was about to pass out , while keith looked like he was about to kill everybody . 

 But all in all , Lance is happy , he didnt know they cared about him this much . Or probably they did care about him a lot , but couldnt see through it due to his negative thoughts and fears . Tears streaming down his face again , truly he was fighting himself , not the world . He realized these people actually care about him . He was needed . He was loved .It was him that needed to overcome his insecurity fears and doubts . Although , it wont be easy to overcome , but truly he has wonderful people to help him overcome it . He also made a new family . Reana and Shay , he cant wait to meet up with them And his fanily back at earth after he finishes saving the world . He truly , is blessed and glad he had wonderful people in his life . Rena and Shay opened up his eyes and made him realize that he was worth more than he thought he was . 

 He now can finally , truly and contently say , the palladins , shay and rena and his family back at earth , are his foundation . ❣️ 

 The end 💙❤️

[yoikyuu]

In A Spacebeat

Guess who is back?? Yup its me! So i was inspired by the cutest short story video ever “In a Heartbeat” and decided to do my own little klance version of it. It took me a while cuz i did half of it and never got to finish it until now Well, anyways i hope you guys like it!!!

His heart had exploded. It had gone “BOOM” and exploded. Well technically speaking, it had jumped out of his chest and was now making its way towards a certain mullet-haired someone.

“What the- Hey!” Lance exclaimed as he chased down his runaway heart.

He couldn’t believe it. His heart finally had enough of his coward-self and decided to act out on his true feelings. (And in an unbelievable way?? Pidge was going to love this)

Yeah sure, he had been crushing on Keith for months now but Lance was sure Keith didn’t even know of his existence. So he did what he had to do and ran for it. He ran to catch up with his heart before it did something he would later regret. No way, was he going to experience rejection again.

As his heart inched closer and closer to Keith, Lance managed to grab a hold of it and pulled with all his might. Grunting, he quickly hid behind a trash can when Keith turned around at the noise.

He was breathing heavily and was using all his strength to stop his heart from getting away.

“Dios mio, that was close. Why is this happening to me?” Lance thought to himself. “Why?”

After a few seconds, Keith’s footsteps started again and his heart decided to once again make a run for it. This time, Lance noticed, Keith had taken out an apple and was tossing it up and down on his hand while casually looking around the hall. Lance’s heart took the opportunity and exchanged the apple for itself. His heart was now being tossed up and down by the one he liked. Up and down it went. Oh god, Lance had to get it back.

He hastily made up his mind at the same time Keith went in for a bite to his “apple” and Lance grabbed his hand.

Silence. Silence and Keith’s eyes were all that Lance noticed as he held Keith’s warm and soft hand.

“Uhhhh,” Lance managed to murmur as he quickly pulled his hand away from Keith, turned around, and bolted down the hallway, heart in hand. He didn’t need to see Keith look after him, but he felt it. Probably with disgust, Lance thought.

“Shit, shit,shit,” Lance chanted under his breath. He had just held Keith’s hand. He held his hand. He couldn’t believe it. And his eyes, his eyes were so beautiful. It was like he was looking at a whole new world. He barely processed these beautiful thoughts, when his heart bolted AGAIN. (Maybe Lance had to work out his arm muscles cuz damnnn that’s the third time)

And, maybe the third time was the charm, because as Keith went into the library, Lance’s heart managed to slip in after Keith as the door was closing.

Now he was in trouble. Lance didn’t know if he should just run in or run away and never look back. He didn’t need his heart anyway. (hahaha he did)

But he made up his mind and he slowly walked back towards the library. When he opened the door, he thought Keith would be the only one in there and his heart (obviously) but what he didn’t expect was Keith on the floor with his heart on his cheek and a group of people staring at him. 

Lance wanted to die. He made a dash for his heart and grabbed the end of his heart and pulled HARD. However, he didn’t expect for his heart to be firmly latched onto Keith, not giving up on his crush. He kept pulling. He pulled and pulled until he heard, and saw, his heart break in two. One piece in his hand and the other on Keith. He looked around and saw the faces of the other people staring at him. He had made a fool out of Keith and an even bigger fool of himself. 

With the half piece in his hand, Lance ran (hes doing a lot of running aint he?) out the library. He felt tears form in his eyes but he wouldn’t cry. He couldn’t. He knew Keith would never feel the same way. So he ran, until he was out the building and hidden behind a tree.

Lance sat down and cradled his broken heart in his hands. He sat there for what felt like eternity. Trying to control his breathings and his thoughts. What would people say about him now? What would Keith think about him? He was too focused on taking control that he did not hear the footsteps approaching him. He didn’t realize that someone sat next to him until it was too late.

“Lance?” a voice whispered.

He swears his neck snapped when he realized and looked up to the owner of the voice.

“I-uhh. Keith?” Lance stuttered surprised.

“I… uhh. I have something that belongs to you.” Keith pulled out the other half of Lance’s heart and cradled it in his hand. (HHHAHAHAH GET IT??) He gently took Lance’s hand, the one with the other half, and carefully put both pieces together while grabbing his hand. Lance literally felt his heart beating happily once again.

“Lance, I like you too.” Keith shyly declared to him.

Lance was soaring. His heart was soaring. 

[voltron-legendary-pretender]

Awaken, My Love

Summary: Prompt fill from a lovely anon - Keith hurts Lance during his Galra awakening and is really upset about it. Lance can’t bear watching the one he loves in so much pain and he does everything he can to make him feel better. Sad but fluffy with a happy ending! Whump overload >.<

*side note - they cannot put Keith in a pod while he is changing as it could mess up the process and could lead to further difficulties in the future so our lil baby boy is just gonna have to suffer for a while.

Warnings; Non-descriptive injures, mentions of blood, mentions of vomit

This has been sitting in my drafts for months now as I am a perfectionist and I felt as though there were some sections that needed a bit more umpf ya know?

I really enjoy writing for you guys please dont think I’d ever just abandon this blog I just wanted it to be as good as I could make it but in the end I decided to give myself a break and I’ve decided to post without edits! 

Hope you enjoy don’t hesitate to leave a comment or a critique I read them all and welcome constructive criticism of my work :)

I am here to become a better writer so please tell me what Ii need to improve on/ what you would like to see from me next!

Panic filled Lance’s sleep-clouded mind when he was startled awake that faithful night to find his boyfriend Keith writhing around their shared bed in immense pain, releasing high-pitched screams of pure agony. They both knew this day would come, but neither of them could’ve guessed it would be so soon.

Lance swore he could feel each individual heart strings being torn to shreds as he looked on helplessly. He watched in horror as Keith’s skin began to exhibit small patches of purple and claws ripped their way through his nail-beds tearing the skin off his fingers and causing blood to flow freely from the fresh wounds. Keith spluttered out more blood along with several of his human teeth before turning to Lance, his now golden eyes glazed over from the disorientating pain.

“H-help me” he pleaded pitifully in a voice so broken Lance wondered if he’d ever be able to piece him back together.

All concept of time had faded during the ordeal, but after what must have been around 20 minutes of what could only be described as hell, Keith’s yells and cries had subsided and been replaced by soft whimpers accompanied by the silent tears we streamed down his now purple face.

As Keith fell into a restless slumber the gravity of what had just happened hit Lance full force. All their lives would be changed forever and that worried Lance.

What if Keith was different when he came around? What would become of the team? What would happen to the love they once shared?

With each awful thought came a further pang of anxiety, they landed Lance’s stomach like raindrops hitting the bottom of a tin bucket, threatening to overflow at each additional worry. Lance was tempted to wake the others, he really hated going through this alone; he could really use one of Hunk’s famous hugs right now, but deep down he knew that if everyone were to arrive into the small room it would only upset Keith more, and right now keeping Keith as comfortable and as safe as possible was priority.

The training Lance had received from Coran all those months ago when it was first discovered that Keith was part Galra had now kicked in. The “So Your Boyfriend’s Galra?” crash course had been extremely helpful to Lance and it gave him a deeper insight on how to care for Keith. Keith often suffered from bad migraines and ran abnormally high fevers from even the smallest cold, afflictions that could usually be cured by bed rest and tender words of comfort from Lance, but this, this was a whole new ball park.

Lance was soon snapped back to reality however as Keith’s whines grew louder and he once again began to thrash around on the bed.

“Okay, you can do this!” Lance reassured himself as he got off the bed and made his way to the door to fetch a first aid kit, a damp cloth and a water pouch for Keith. He was going to do exactly what Coran had instructed all those months ago, back before Lance’s worst nightmare became a reality.

Letting out a shaky sigh as the sliding door whooshed open, Lance turned back around to face Keith’s disheveled form one last time before promising;

“I’ll keep you safe love, we’ll get through this.” in a barely audible whisper, more so to calm himself than Keith.

On his arrival back things were bad.

There was a lot more blood and Keith had vomited on himself. It was as if Keith’s body was shedding itself inside and out. Clumps of hair accompanied large pieces of torn skin and broken nails on the once blue duvet that was now stained a deep purple with blood and bile. It was heart breaking. Lance was frozen in the doorway in pure horror. 

Keith hadn’t noticed Lance re-enter the room, yet as he curled in on himself on the bed he feverishly chanted Lance’s name like a mantra,

“L-lance, -ance ahh ah d-don’t t l-eave pl-lease m-mak-e ahh it it s-st ah stop”

That was it. 

Coran’s no touching rule be damned, Keith needed to know Lance was there for him, no way was this boy ever going to feel abandoned ever again.

Placing the first aid materials down on the bed-side locker, Lance quietly scooched up behind his beautiful boyfriend, my God, he didn’t deserve any of this pain.

A gentle rub on the back that Lance intended to be a form of comfort back-fired quickly.

No sooner had the palm of his hand made contact with Keith’s back did the latter boy let out a hiss that sounded like that of a wild panther’s, before turning around with claws bared and slashed Lance across the chest.

“D-don’t t-touch me!” He yelled as Lance flopped back into a kneeling position in disbelief. He held his hand to his aching chest and pulled it away only to find fresh crimson liquid pooling in his palm.

Sheepishly looking down Lance caught sight of the three angry claw marks that had ripped through his pajama top and were causing blood to ooze out of his once flawlessly smooth skin.

He needed help. Fast.

Grabbing the remote beside his bed he set off the alarms in the castle to wake everyone up before leaving a frantic message.

“Guys, I-I need you all down h-here right now, arghh K-Keith’s changing. I I need h-help, hurry p-please”

Before he knew it the remaining paladins had arrived accompanied by Allura and Coran. Keith was now yelling again and more blood began to stream out of his mouth. Everyone was taken aback by the scene they were witnessing but soon sprang into action to help.

It was all a blur. Lance could vaguely remember being carried to the infirmary by Hunk, along with two other concerned voices which later turned out to be Coran and Pidge, Allura and Shiro left to deal with “the Keith situation”.

Dizzy and delusional from the blood loss, Lance began to cry and apologize to Coran.

“I-I’m sorry I d-didn’t d-do wh-what ahh you you t-told me, I - I w-want-ed him to to kno-w that that I-I...”

Lance’s sobs were cut off by Coran placing his strong hands on the trembling boys shoulders before speaking “Hey look at me” he said in a voice so gentle Lance couldn’t help but comply.

“I am so proud of you, do you hear me? You did amazing, Keith will be fine, but this is an extremely traumatic thing to go through, he needs you to be there for him okay? Right now your job is to get better so you can be there for him, all you need to do right now is focus in getting better alright?”

Lance nodded meekly in response.

“That’s my boy!” Come on now let’s get you into a pod and you’ll be right in a jiffy!” Coran announced.

Right as Lance stepped into the pod the older man embraced him in a warm hug.

“We all love you Lance, were so proud of you, you did so well” were Coran’s parting words. New tears sprang from Lance’s eyes but for the first time in a long time they were tears of joy, of pride. Yeah, he did good.

Just a couple of hours later the pod door whooshed open and Lance fell into the loving arms of his second family. Everyone was there except for Keith and Shiro.

“How is he?” Lance questioned no one in particular.

“Better” Allura supplied with a grimace. “It appears the worst is over, Shiro’s with him now”

“He’s been calling your name this entire time, he thinks you hate him” Pidge interjects sadly.

“Yeah” sighed Hunk. “he’s really beat up about the whole thing, he didn’t mean it.”

“I know that!” Lance practically yells. “I gotta see him is he still in the room?”

“Yes, unfortunately moving him to the med bay would have done more harm than good at this stage” Allura stated.

“Go to him my boy!” Coran said to Lance as he was already half way down the hallway.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Lance yelled back down to the others.

Lance was greeted by a very tired looking Shiro at the door who let him back into the room.

Hey how you doing buddy?” Shiro whispered. It appeared Keith had passed out again and Shiro was trying to keep him as well-rested as possible.

“I’m fine, why is he in restraints?” Lance replied, motioning towards Keith who looked worse for wear. Shiro let out a deep sigh before explaining.

“After he hurt you, he went nuts, he-he said he was a monster.” Shiro looked down sadly before continuing. “We had no choice he kept hurting himself, we tied him down so he would stop, some of the wounds are pretty deep, I’m stitching them up now while he’s out.”

“Oh God” Lance’s heart was broken. 

He approached the chair placed beside his boyfriend’s head and leaned down to kiss his his pain stained face as he took one of Keith’s bandaged hands into his own.

“Thank you for taking care of him Shiro. Go get some rest, I’ll take it from here” Lance said with a soft smile as he used his thumb to rub soothing circles onto the back of Keith’s injured hand.

“Are you sure Lance?” Shiro questioned.

“Yeah, totally” Lance replied instantly, eyes still locked firmly to Keith.

“I’m never gonna leave your side I promise” he whispered into his partner’s blood-soaked mullet.

“He really loves you you know” Shiro said as he stood in the door way.

“Yeah, I know. I know.”

At some point Lance must’ve dosed off, only to be awoken by the sound of Keith muttering in his sleep. His face was all screwed up and it appeared he was having a nightmare.

“ahh no no monster, m-monster no n-no Lancee no don-t leave-e me n-no ahh”

Lance felt like he could drown in the sadness that was flooding his insides at the sight of the boy he loved in so much pain.

“Ssh, I’m here, I’m here, I love you Keith, so much, shh it’s okay” Lance hushed as he stroked Keith’s hair.

With that his eyelids snapped open.

“Lance!” he gaped.

“Hello love, how are you feeling? Let me take these restraints of they can’t be comfy-”

“NO!” Keith yelled. “I’m a monster, I’m evil, I’ll just hurt you, please, don’t l-let me hurt you” Keith began to sob.

“Hey, hey it’s alright. It was an accident Keith! Ii love you babe. I’m so proud of you for making it through this, you are so strong dear” Lance consoled him as he unlocked the restraints before opening his arms up for a hug. Keith seemed to hesitate for a moment before throwing himself full-force into Lance’s warm embrace.

“I- I was-s so so scared” he hiccuped out in between sobs.

“I know darling, I know. I’m here now, I’ll never leave you, we’re gonna get through this okay?” Lance said softly as he planted kisses across Keith’s neck and shoulders. They held each other for some time before Lance broke contact.

“Let’s get you cleaned up a bit yeah?” he suggested. Keith nodded before nuzzling back into Lance’s chest one last time before sitting back.

Accessing the extent of his remaining untreated injuries, Lance concluded that at least some of the deeper wounds should be attended to before they got some much needed rest.

Lance worked slowly and gently, whispering words of encouragement and showering Keith with kisses whenever the battered boy began whimpering in pain. After a while, despite how careful Lance was, it was all becoming a bit too much for Keith. His breathing became audibly deeper and faster as he squeezed his eyes shut and gripped onto Lance’s shirt.

Noticing this change, Lance placed down the antiseptic soaked cloth he was holding and tipped Keith’s chin upwards to meet the other boy’s gaze and examine his face. 

“I-I don’t feel good” Keith hiccuped.

Lance felt his forehead and sighed. “You’re getting feverish again. I think we’ll leave this til later, okay? Do you need your bucket again?” he asked tenderly as he swiped Keith’s greasy hair from his face.

Keith simply nodded as he began clutching his stomach letting out little whines of pain.

“Here you go love” Lance held the bucket in front of Keith as the shaking boy retched violently into it, bringing up nothing but bile and a little blood.

“It’s okay, your okay” Lance reassured as he rubbed small circles on the small of Keith’s back. Keith merely whimpered and leaned back into Lance’s comforting embrace in response.

“Hurts” he said in a cracked voice.

“I know pet, I know” Lance sympathized as he used a fresh cloth to wipe Keith’s face clean.

“Here have some of this and then we’ll go to bed alright?” Lance reasoned, guiding the pouch of water to Keith’s bloody lips. He waited patiently as the smaller boy took a few small sips before screwing up his face in pain once more as he clutched his stomach.

“Okay, that’s enough for now.” Lance soothed.

“I’m just gonna strip the bed and we can cuddle okay?” Keith nodded furiously at this suggestion and Lance giggled.

“Alright, lemme just put you on the chair for a minute and I’ll bring you right back, okay?” Keith nodded once more.

As Lance began to slowly guide Keith off the bed and into a standing position he could feel the other boy trembling.

“Are you alright to do this love?” He asked concerned and Keith nodded in response yet again. He had to brave! He was already so weak and pathetic. This isn’t who Keith was.

However, standing even with the support of Lance proved to be too much for Keith, knees buckling beneath him, only to be saved from crashing to the floor by Lance’s arms.

“S-sorry I-I thought I c-could”

“Ssh, it’s alright love, I’ve got you, I’ve got you” Lance reassured as he carried Keith bridal-style to the chair, He planted a quick kiss on the top of Keith’s head before getting to work on quickly changing the bed sheets. Lance decided to use the red duvet with matching pillows that had patterns of smiling kittens all over them, he knew they were Keith favourite, even if he  was too stubborn to admit it.

Within a few minutes both boys were wrapped up in their own poorly constructed blanket burrito for two. They held onto each other simply starring into one another’s eyes.

“You’re beautiful” Lance smiled lazily, Keith’s new cat-like ears pricked up and Lance laughed softly. Keith’s blush turned into a frown.

“You know you don’t have to say those things to me anymore. I- I know I’m not a monster anymore but-but you don’t need to stay with me, I’m not what I was, who I was you don’t have to -” he began to ramble before Lance stopped him by leaning in for another kiss. This one was deeper, more needy than the many that came before, yet it was still soft and warm and not at all harsh in the way that was so uniquely Lance it made Keith’s head spin and his heart flutter.

“Don’t be so silly” Lance spoke as they broke apart.

“You’re still the same Keith I fell in love with, you’re just a lil fluffy now.” Lance spoke softly motioning towards Keith’s new purple coat.

“You’re not a monster, what happened was an accident okay? I love you. So much. Keith your gorgeous inside and out, my God you’re so beautiful. You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met, when we were together I feel like I’m with a better version of myself. Keith you’re my best friend, you deserve the entire universe and I’m just so happy I get to share my little section of it with you everyday, I could never ask for anymore” As Lance spoke he wiped the tears that were now spilling down Keith’s face.

Thank you Lance he sniffled into the crook of the other boys neck as he listened closely for the gentle and constant rhythm of Lance’s heartbeat.

“Your m-unm --se” he mumbled.

“What was that dear?” Lance questioned.

“I said your my universe Lance” Keith smiled up at his boyfriend proudly, showing the first signs of being his normal corny self again.

That night they fell asleep in each others arms, as they had done so many before, tentatively listening to the beating of their hearts and feeling the rise and fall of each others chests as they drifted into a peaceful slumber.

They’d be okay. They had each other.

[toosicktoocare]

The winner of Prompt Pick!!

Space colds, Lance realizes with a huff of annoyance, are an actual thing. Apparently being a defender of the universe doesn’t give his immune system a free pass in the form of a tough barrier of protection.

He’s pulled from sleep with a harsh sneeze that has him jerking up with tense shoulders and sneezing sharply into his blanket. A light groan slips past his lips as his shoulders slump down, deeper than usual as if he didn’t just wake from a full night’s sleep.

For a brief moment, he thinks it could just be a fluke, a sudden tickle in his nose paired with an offset sleep, but he knows better. Years of being around big groups of people, whether that be a family that stretches on for days or classes at the Garrison, have resulted in many cases of a run-of-the-mill common cold, so he knows.

He could rest, but he’s not going to. It’s rare for people to take sick days for something as small as a cold, and he’s no ordinary person, not anymore. There’s no time for rest for the defenders of the universe, at least that’s what Keith always says before training each day.

He swings his legs over the bed, feet landing to the floor with a dull thud. They feel kind of heavy, he thinks as he stands, bones popping and cracking while he pulls his hands high above his head into a stretch. But, it’s okay, he tells himself as he shuffles toward his closet while still blinking away the haze of sleep coating his vision.

He can ignore it until it goes away; he’s used to pushing his feelings back to the far, borderline unreachable, part of his mind. It’s one of the perks of being a paladin after all.

*****

Lance has never had a cold last as long as this one has. He’s half-way through his second week with this pesky cold, and he’s starting to feel worse.

The added ailments were subtle at first, and he could almost brush them off. He’d been stifling sneezes for the better part of a week, so adding coughing to this list wasn’t that big of a deal, maybe a little more difficult but still manageable. Masking his growing congested voice required more skill in the form of strong enunciation and a confident voice that grated against throat like glass slowly sliding down his flesh. But again, he’s been able to hide the growth of his symptoms, and he’s been holding onto this thinning hope that this is nothing more than just a bad cold, maybe even an impressive chest cold at the most.

He’s also been able to deflect any sudden concern stemmed from a slip-up on his behalf with easy jokes paired with quick teasing, otherwise known as his golden combination that almost always has everyone either laughing or being annoyed with him.

But, he’s starting to regret not telling someone, especially now that he’s loading up in Black, trudging slowly behind Shiro and Keith as if slopping about through thick piles of mud.

Normally, he would be beyond thrilled to have been chosen to accompany the two on a small rescue mission, but he’s lacking in the energy department, so he can’t muster up any excitement whatsoever. 

He flops down onto a wall seat off to the side just as Shiro takes the center console seat with Keith hovering over his shoulder. Lance turns to stifle a few sneezes into the crook of his elbow while neither is looking, and he spares a moment of worry for how amazing his cold armor feels against his heated face.

Fever? Typical, he thinks as he mentally adds that to his running list of symptoms: sneezing, coughing, blocked nose, headache, and now fever.

“Ready?”

Lance snaps his neck toward Shiro’s voice and offers a wide smile that struggles to reach his tired eyes. “Let’s go rescue some aliens.”

*****

Snow crunches loudly under Lance’s boots as he follows Keith and Shiro, all three on edge. They have yet to find the owners of the distress signal, and there’s a creeping tension growing around the three, something that feels off, but the source appears just beyond reach.

A sudden snapping sound echoing from a short distance behind them has the three freezing in their tracks.

“Was that a tree branch?” Keith asks, and Lance spares a quick glance around at their empty surroundings.

“There aren’t any trees on this planet,” Lance points out right before the three whip around with their Bayards at the ready.

One quick look at purple skin has Lance firing with impressive accuracy despite his pounding head. “We’ve got company!” He shouts as he aims and fires. “And not the good kind!”

He shifts his Bayard just as Keith and Shiro charge forward for close combat.

“Cover us!” Shiro shouts, and Lance doesn’t need to be told twice.

The blue paladin aims and shoots, over and over while cautious of his two friends slashing away at Galra soldiers. Each bang of his gun feels like a weight of pressure pushing against his forehead, but he keeps shooting until the pressure suddenly divides and slides down and around to press hard against his eyes and temples. It feels almost as if there are large hands inside his head, pushing behind his eyes as if trying pop the two right from his head. And his temples are pulsing in time with his rapid heart.

It suddenly becomes too much too fast, and he drops to one knee, Bayard falling to the snow-covered ground with a dull thud. His head feels heavy; his neck can’t support it. It feels like a giant weight, and he struggles to rip his helmet off with trembling fingers in the hopes of relieving some of the weight.

“Lance!”

He tosses his helmet to the side before teetering forward until he’s braced above the cold ground on his hands and knees. Strong, deep-set coughs rip from his lungs, and he coughs and trembles until his eyes brim with tears.

“Lance!”

Keith’s voice again, louder and more urgent than the first time, and Lance really wishes the stupid mullet would shut up because the shouting is just adding to the pressure in his head. But, a sudden jolting sound of electricity echoes behind him, and he goes rigid.

“Ready to die, blue paladin?”

Lance spares a quick glance to his Bayard. It’s close enough, he thinks. He can do this. “Nope,” he replies, popping the ‘p’ right before he’s reaching for his Bayard and rolling onto his back to take the shot. His finger on the trigger is just a hair faster than the Galra’s buzzing baton, and next thing he knows, he’s tossing his Bayard to the side to stop a lifeless Galra body from falling on top of him.

His arms shake as he catches the dead weight, and he just manages to lean up and shove the Galra off to the side before collapsing back against the snow with a weak cough. His chest is heaving as the sudden spike of adrenaline dwindles down until his ailments come back full force. He squeezes his eyes shut to ward off the brightness that further irritates his head, which is an uncomfortable mixture of pressure and pain, and contemplates sleep. Sleep seems good.

*****

“-ance? Lance!”

Very slowly, Lance pries his eyes open to address the voice that sounds so muffled and distant to his ears. He blinks, and while he can make out Shiro’s worried face hovering over him, the black paladin won’t stay still. He’s swaying, almost as if Lance is looking at him while under a rippling pond of water.

“Are you hurt?”

Lance isn’t sure how it’s possible, but he presses further back into the cold snow underneath him when Shiro’s voice is suddenly much louder and clearer than before. His vision clears, and he shakes his head before shivering as fresh snow brushes against the back of his neck.

“What happened?”

Lance lazily looks to the left to see Keith standing with his arms crossed, and he shrugs before forcing his heavy body up into a sitting position. The pressure in his head shifts and heightens with the movement, and he lets out a deep groan before dropping his heavy head into his cupped hands.

“Lance, what’s wrong? Is it your head?”

Shiro’s voice sounds like a megaphone positioned right beside his head, and he can’t help the soft whimper that escapes his lips. “You are talking too loud.”

There’s a light gasp before a softer tone from Shiro follows, accompanied with strong fingers wrapping around Lance’s wrist.

“Sorry, buddy. Can you look at me for a moment?”

Lance’s neck and shoulders ache when he lifts his heavy head, but he’s able to keep it upright as Shiro slips a glove off presses a cool palm to his forehead.

“You are burning up, Lance,” Shiro says, voice thick with worry as he flips his hand and slides it down to Lance’s cheek.

Lance wants to pull away, but then Keith is crouching beside him and placing a steady hand to his trembling back.

“You’ve been sick, haven’t you?”

Despite Keith’s voice being bright with concern, Lance can’t help but feel as if he’s being judged in a courtroom. He nods once, unable to form words around shaking lips.

“How long?”

Lance looks back to Shiro, and the sudden urge to cry under Shiro’s protective gaze hits him like a tidal wave, but he keeps himself together. He can manage that much for now.

“Over a week. I thought it was just a cold, but it got worse.”

“Worse how?”

Lance shrugs again. He wants to curl up on the cold ground and sleep for a year, but he clears his throat, only to be forced to turn away and cough harshly. “My head,” he sputters out in between coughs. “It feels really heavy.”

“Sinus infection,” Shiro spits out quickly with a frown, and both Lance and Keith turn toward him.

“How-”

“Matt,” Shiro answers, cutting Keith off. “He was notorious for working through colds until they blew up like this.”

Great, Lance thinks before badgering himself with questions on why he’s so stupid for not resting when he should have.

“You’ll be okay, Lance. We just gotta get you back.”

Shiro’s voice cut through Lance’s negative thoughts, and he nods once more before allowing the black paladin to help him to his feet. He’s falling before he can even process what’s happening, but Shiro is quick to steady him, like an anchor steadying a drifting boat.

“Think you can manage to hop on my back?”

No, Lance thinks as he nods. Shiro crouches down in front of him, and he climbs onto the black paladin’s back. When Shiro stands, Lance drops his pounding head against Shiro’s shoulder just as jerking tremors shoot across his veins and leave him shivering hard.

“You okay, bud?”

“Cold,” Lance mutters, teeth chattering loudly beside Shiro’s ear. He misses the worried glance Shiro and Keith share in favor of closing his tired eyes.

“I know, bud. We will get you back soon, okay?”

Already, Shiro’s voice sounds faint and distant, likes it’s but a lingering echo that’s seconds from fading completely.

“Kay.”

*****

When Lance wakes up, the first thing he processes is that he’s flat on his back and no longer clinging weakly to Shiro. When his vision steadies, he takes in the white ceiling above him. He pats his hands around to feel a warm blanket draped over him, and now he’s thoroughly confused.

“You’re in the med bay.”

Lance snaps his gaze toward the owner of the sudden voice and spots Keith straddling a chair beside the bed with his arms resting along the back of the chair.

“When did we get back?” Lance croaks out as he fights against a fleeting memory.

“A few hours ago. You were in and out of consciousness the whole trip back. Hunk’s pissed, by the way. I thought he was going to have a heart attack when we came back with you lying limp in Shiro’s arms.”

Lance frowns and presses one trembling hand to his head. The pressure is still there, but it’s growing weaker with each passing second, and the skin underneath his palm doesn’t feel terribly hot, just a little warm as a lingering fever still clings to him.

“I-” Lance starts, but his voice trails off when Keith suddenly lifts a hand.

“None of the 'I’m sorry’ bullshit. You can’t hide illnesses from us, Lance.”

Lance’s eyes narrow as a spike of anger shoots across him. “You do it.”

“What?”

“You hide illnesses from us all the time. Don’t think I don’t know, Keith. You always get quiet when you are sick, and you move slower and don’t train for as long.”

Lance watches as Keith blinks slowly with a face colored in surprise. Victory tastes good, he thinks when Keith opens and closes his mouth as if struggling to find the proper words.

“I didn’t– I didn’t realize that you noticed.”

“You’re obvious.”

Keith sighs at this and slumps forward, chin resting atop his arms. “I’ll stop if you stop.”

Lance nods once, anger breaking away to a light smile that ghosts across his lips. “Deal.”

“For the record, you had me worried.”

A light laugh slips past Lance’s lips. “Please, you were probably already figuring out a way to merge Blue and Red into the ultimate Lion.”

Keith shakes his head but laughs quietly. “More like I was trying to figure out ways to save you.”

A deep blush spreads across Lance’s cheeks, and he jerks his head to face the ceiling. “Whatever. Just go get Hunk for me,” he says all too quickly, and he breathes out a low huff when Keith laughs louder before exiting the room.

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under A Purple Rain prt 27 full draft

Napping was all Lance’s body wanted to do. His mind wanted to finish sorting baby clothes with Keith, but his yawns wouldn’t stop. The last two days had been lazy days. They’d taken Kosmo up to see the cave where the Blue Lion had slept for so long. His busted knee hated every moment of it. Kosmo acting like a Shepard as he herded him away from everything he deemed dangerous with a gentle fanged mouth around his hand. Melancholy tugging on his heart as he stared at the blue markings from the ancient race who’d seen blue land. He’d always thought the Paladin’s of the past as those who’d left the markings for those of the future. Lance thought it’d bring him some kind of peace of mind, yet it only brought his time as a Paladin crashing back. His mind flooded with feelings of isolation and loneliness. Things were better now. He honestly didn’t know how they’d survived what they had. They’d all be so young. So young and so insecure. He’d been so stupid. His stupid flirting and desperate need to be acknowledged... He wanted to die of embarrassment when he thought of himself. No wonder Keith had brushed him off upon his return. Kuron had been right. Kuron had been every time he’d lorded over him. Every time he’d rubbed his incompetence in his face. Every harder than necessary blow during training. Every scoff... He wasn’t as over it as he’d thought. Shiro was Shiro again... And if Shiro had remembered any of what had happened, he’d thankfully kept it to himself. They’d spent a few long moments both reflecting on their Voltron adventures before leaving, Lance knew he wasn’t doing a very good job hiding his struggle from Keith. Keith simply wrapping his arm around his waist, silently being there without pushing for which Lance was extremely grateful. After returning from visiting Blue’s resting place, Keith had left him alone for a bit. Lance not wanting to shackle him down, accepted he too might need space after what had happened. For his husband it’d technically been a decade since they hurtled off on their adventure. Keith had matured so much, he was practically a different person. His clinging baby fat had morphed into long lean lines. He no longer carried himself with the air of isolation and loneliness. He was now taller and broader than ever. His body carrying far too many scary scars, yet each scar was proof that he’d survived. His long black hair no longer a mullet, though that name would never get old. The immaturity of youth had been thoroughly scrubbed away as they were all forced to grow up far too fast. Maybe that was why now that they had found some kind of peace, things like “adulting” went out the window. They had the time to the things young lovers did. They had the time to play hooky, to shirk responsibilities and obligations. It may because they were both recovering, but Lance hated the moments they spent apart due to his depression or need for sleep. He hated the hours spent throwing his guts up, when he’d rather be on the move, doing and seeing new things with Keith. With Keith’s father’s clothes to go through, he’d started taking things from the packing boxes slowly and carefully. The residual scents of washing powder and dust hung to the garments, then again, after 19 years or so he shouldn’t have been expecting to find any traces of his father-in-law’s scent. He supposed it was a little creepy to be trying to trace his scent. Lance was simply curious if his husband smelt more of his mother than father. Lance was still sorting clothes when Keith had walked in with a shit eating grin on his face. Placing the box he had in his hold on the floor, Keith ruined all Lance’s carefully sorted piles, before dropping them all back into the box they come from. Ignoring his spluttered complaints, Keith took his knife from his belt, cutting through the top tape of the box he’d brought in. Grabbing something out the top, he stuffed it in his pockets, then carried it over and upended it. Smug as hell as Lance took several long moments to realise his husband had brought him maternity clothes. Plain. Simple. Non-frilly. Non-flowery. Maternity clothes. Ugly crying, he couldn’t even thank his husband. He was way too happy, and way too shocked to remember Spanish, let alone English. This is what lead to then doing what must have been a dozen washes, of his clothes, and then the baby clothes and blankets. Yeah. He’d gotten completely carried away with all the washing, but the ideal of jeans that didn’t cut into his belly was to tempting. Folding the tiny onesie in his hold, Lance yawned again. Keith taking the onesie from his hold and carefully placing it in the bag with the others. Despite Daehra and Lucteal both knowing of his pregnancy, it still felt a little awkward. He wasn’t coping with the changes his body was going through, and though they meant well, he didn’t look forward to Daehra hovering over him as she knew he would. Plus, Marco didn’t know he was pregnant, so everything was being repacked to be unpacked without his older brother around. The secret of his pregnancy had been spreading, Lance missing the closeness of only he, Keith and Shiro knowing. Medical staff didn’t count. Soon he’d have no choice but to tell Krolia, who’d tell Kolivan. Curtis, because he and Shiro were a package deal. His papi... then his siblings. Each time he thought of how many people were left to judge him, he felt sick to his stomach. Keith was still adjusting to the idea of being a father... He’d need to tell his team... His team that Lance was still to face... Then there was Hunk, Shay and Pidge... He just knew it wasn’t going to go well. He was medical oddity. A freak of nature “Babe, you ok?” “Yeah” “Tired again?” “A bit” Leaning into Keith, his husband felt warm. Frowning at the unexpected warmth, Lance brought his palm to Keith’s forehead “What are you doing?” “You’re hot” Taking his hand, Keith snorted “Thanks. So are you” If he hadn’t been concerned, Lance would have rolled his eyes “I think you have a fever. Do you feel sick?” There was a tick long pause “Maybe a little hot...” Groaning, Lance sat up, taking the opportunity to really stare at his husband. Keith looked sick. He couldn’t pick up anything in his scent, but he’d spent Vargas staring at Keith’s face. He knew when he was in pain. He knew when he was sick “You’re sick. Come on, let’s get you to bed and settled” Keith growled softly “I’m not sick” “And I’m not pregnant. You’re sick, buster. Let me check your foot. I bet your infection’s got worse again” Sass was his defence. He was scared. He’d missed the symptoms. He should have been paying more attention of Keith’s needs “It’s nothing” “Keith. If you don’t get up and march your arse to bed right now, I will knock you out and carry you there myself. Why didn’t you tell me you were sick!?” “I don’t know... I didn’t really notice it until you pointed it out” “What kind of excuse is that!? Come on, we’re going to bed” Grabbing Keith’s hand, he didn’t care that he was scattering baby clothes as he pulled Keith to his feet “Well someone’s eager” That one earned the eye roll “Yes. I’m eager to make sure you’re not getting sick because we haven’t been monitoring your foot like we have. I’m so fucking stupid. Of course it wasn’t healed. It’s not like your neck. No. That healed... you had a whole fucking branch in your foot. Stupid, Lance... stupid. You have one fucking job...” “Babe...” Keith tried to calm him, Lance ignoring it in favour of limping as fast as he could with Keith in tow. Peeling off his husband’s sock, Keith’s foot was definitely infected. A small lump having formed under the tiny pinprick sized remaining scab, while red lines ran from the site “It’s infected” Wriggling his toes, Keith tried to peer down at the bottom of his foot, which was impossible. His foot was in Lance’s hold “Are you sure?” “Keith. I’m going to hit you. Why didn’t you tell me that it hurt!?” “It didn’t? I mean, it felt a little weird this morning...” “This morning!” Screeching at Keith, it was now afternoon, nearly evening. It’d been that bad for that long?! “Dios. Don’t go yelling like that. I’m fine. I’ll take a nap...” Who’d taught this el estúpido ,Spanish? “Why didn’t you tell me? Kosmo, make sure he doesn’t move. Or I’ll castrate both of you” Retrieving the med kit, the pain pills in the pack seemed to stare at him. His heart starting to race the longer he stared at them. Growling at himself, he shook two pills out the pack, before limping to the kitchen to retrieve a water pack for Keith. Returning to their room, his husband had started sweating, his hands slightly shaky as he took the pills and swallowed them down without protest. Keith must have been feeling like quiznak to be so obliging. Catching his arm as Lance placed down the water pack, Keith gave him a smile “It’s not that bad. You’re not an idiot. I didn’t notice” “I should have... You’re my husband and I didn’t...” Shaking his head, he didn’t want to have this conversation. He was stupid. He was. Moving to sit down by the first aid kit, he sighed at himself. He was stupid. Whether Keith admitted it or not “I’m going to look at your foot. It might hurt a bit, but hopefully anything that’s been in there will drain out” “Babe. It’s fine. It’s not even that sore” “You took both pills without me asking! You wouldn’t do that if it was nothing!” “I would when I knew you’d be upset. I was too wrapped up in thinking about our twins in these tiny little clothes to think about much else... babies are small, aren’t they?” “Some are. Twins are usually smaller because there’s only so much space they can take up” “That’s so weird” Lance might be the rambler when he was sleepy, but he was now enjoying listening to Keith’s sleepy rambles. He felt sick to the very bottom of his stomach that he’d missed all the signs “Tell me about it. Actually, tell me about it. It’ll keep you distracted” “You’re like growing two people in you. What if they’re dickheads? Or like weird food... or brussel sprouts? What if they can’t pilot? What if they get air-sick?” Grabbing what he needed from the first aid kit, Lance slathered the bump with antibiotic cream “No child of yours would dare get air-sick” “That tickles” “Good, because it’s about to get painful. What else have to you discovered about twins?” Taking the scalpel, this was probably an awful idea. He nearly forgot to put the gauze underneath Keith’s foot to catch anything that came out. What came out had him gagging. There was a small sliver of plant matter that finally oozed out once the initial rush of blood and gunk passed. It reeked. Keith needed to be on antibiotics, and he didn’t have any. Five days into their precious holiday, and now they were going to have to leave early. Working out what he could, Keith didn’t take it well. He kept trying to free his foot and hit him in the nose more than once as Lance wrestled with him. For a big bad Blade’s operative, Keith was being a woose “Are you done yet?” Folding up the dirty gauze he’d been wiping over the wound, Lance sighed at his husband. He knew he was terrible at this sort of thing, but he was sure he was doing better than Keith. His knee still felt as if it was stuffed full of razor blades, yet he’d kept most of his grumblings to himself “You’re not going to like this. Either we do a hospital trip over to Garrison city, or we’re heading to the outpost two days early” Crossing his arms, Keith looked like an angry toddler as he huffed “I’m sure it’s not that bad” “It’s literally a piece of bramble from the planet that sent you all crazy. The whole planet was anti-Galra and your human side didn’t help at all. Yes, it is that bad. Now make your mind up. The hospital or Daehra” Keith glared at him for a long moment “Are you sure I need to go?” Unfolding the piece of dirty gauze in his hold, Keith wrinkled his nose. Lance dry heaving as he rushed to scrunch it back up “Yeah. It stinks. I don’t know how the fuck they missed it, but I’m not fucking happy. And I’m not letting you off that easy. An infection can easily turn to blood poisoning or sepsis. Do you want to lose your arms and legs? Because sometimes that’s the only way to save someone!” “Alright. Ok. We’ll go to the hospital” “Thank you. Let me clean this all up, then we’ll go. No poking at it while I’m gone. I want to let it drain a little more before I cover it up” Kosmo wasn’t keen on being left behind, and Keith wasn’t keen on letting him pilot his ship. Reminding his husband that “idiots who didn’t pay attention to their infections were made to sit in the passenger seats where they were expected to remain quiet”, didn’t sit well with him at all. Keith trying to be covert as he began picking at the tape holding the non-stick wound pad on. Pulling his knife from his boot, Lance threw it at the dash beside Keith’s booted “good foot”, causing his husband to yelp in shock. Given he wasn’t sorry, Lance didn’t apologise. As he piloted the ship to the designated landing area on the outskirts of the city, he played back everything that had happened. All he could think of was in the rocky terrain where Blue’s cave had been, Keith must have irritated and dislodged the fragment. His foot had been getting better. The wound shrinking every day... because he’d made sure to check when he remembered. He’d stopped verbally asking as Keith would get annoyed. Now he was kicking himself. Catching a hover-taxi to the hospital, Lance nearly forgot his crutches, and his wallet in his rush to get Keith into the hands of someone more professional than he was. He’d cleaned the wound out with a saline wash from the first aid kit. Bits of red looking gunk dribbling out as he did. It took three rinses for him to be happy. Keith, on the other hand, certainly wasn’t happy. Not that Lance was thrilled over their current predicament. He hated hospitals. He hated the smell of the disinfectant. He felt like he was being judged as a junky, despite them having no knowledge of his condition. Talking first with the triage nurse, then with the registrar, they were asked to wait in the relatively empty waiting room. Being Paladins meant they had free healthcare, as did their families. His heart ached over the fact the same couldn’t be said for everyone. It felt like a totally dick move to charge people thousands of dollars when everyone had a basic right to all the same services. They hadn’t fought in a galactic war just to line the pockets of the greedy. He’d never tell Keith, yet if he was faced with some of the rich that blamed the poor for being poor, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t shoot them. With Keith feeling so poorly, Lance held his hand tightly, rubbing his cheek against his husbands upper arm in an effort to comfort him. Keith had his fair share of bad memories when it came to hospitals. He’d expected him to opt for Daehra, but Keith wasn’t ready to return to space. The incident having carved a deep and ugly scar inside, where his love couldn’t magically make it all better. When Keith was called through, Lance explained what had happened as his husband was sulking with the biggest pout he’d ever seen on his lips. Examining the wound, Keith behaved himself as he was prodded at.. before being offered the use of a pod to heal the minor injury. They’d have to head over to the garrison if they took the offer. Selfishly torn, Lance prayed Keith wouldn’t take the offer. He wanted Keith safe, well, and in one piece. He also feared Keith going into a pod and never coming out again. Realising his working himself into a panic attack over the idea of Keith being trapped behind that thin pane of glass forever, he wrapped his arms around himself in a self hug. Breathe in. Hold. Release. Patience yields focus. Breathe in. Hold. Release. As Lance worked his way back out of the sprouting panic attack, Keith accepted the offer of antibiotics instead, as they’d be staying with a medical professional in a few days anyway. Recleaning and dressing Keith’s foot, his husband was given crutches to keep him off it. It wasn’t until Keith started getting huffy over accelerated Galra healing that Lance felt he could breathe again. They made a fine pair. Both of them on crutches, both of them wanting to hold the door open for the other. Keith’s pride getting in the way when he limped forward, growling at the slow pace. Both of them quiznakking idiots who couldn’t follow doctors orders. Keith had tried to get him in trouble by mentioning how Lance was still in quite a bit of pain from his sprained knee. Which was ignored. The doctor simply raising an eyebrow, before getting back to explaining how Keith needed to take one tablet three times a day with meals. * With Keith off his feet, Lance was determined to be the perfect husband. The fact that his anxieties wouldn’t give him a moments rest, nor the nausea that left him with a crippling headache as he cooked for them, didn’t stop him. Sleeping off his fever, Lance went on a preparation spree. He cooked up all the food that was left in the shack, making enough meals that they’d be taking some back to the outpost. He swept the wood floors, then ran the mop over them. Cleaned up the baby clothes that he been scattered, tears rolling down his face because of how tiny and precious they all were. Their two tiny miracles... That he still hadn’t decided on where he’d be giving birth. Altea had all his medical records, but his counsellor was on Erathus... Dios knew he could use a long talk with them... He wasn’t recovered from what had happened on the training mission. Keith’s words would echo in his ears. The way they snapped at him would come flooding back without want. He was trying to be ok, because when it was just the two of them, Keith made everything better by being at his side. He felt stronger with him. Not so useless and cowardly... and not quite so out of control. The temptation to swallow down half a dozen painkillers had only been killed by Keith’s need of them. He’d thought his knee would heal faster than it had been. Two movements on crutches and it was still tender, despite icing and elevating it. The Cuban had the suspicion that his sister sitting on his leg had worsened the damage, but he didn’t want to appear a cry baby over a sore knee. Not when Keith was actually ill. He’d cried pathetically over missing the signs and symptoms as he changed the cold compress across Keith’s forehead. His husband treated him like he was the most precious treasure in existence, yet he’d let him down by not paying enough attention. And... and it scared him. It scared him so badly that Keith could be so sick and he’d missed it. He never asked if he still felt pain from having that bone sample taken from his wrist, or where Lance had accidentally electrocuted him. Hearing Keith scream his name, Lance flew into a blind panic, bumping into the walls of the shack as he rushed. Thrashing on the bed, Keith was mid-nightmare. Lunging forward, his stupid knee twisted, Lance letting out his own pained cry as he clutched his knee. The brace was off because wearing it was bulky and uncomfortable. Now he regretted it. Holding his knee, he hobbled to the bed before sitting on the edge and taking Keith’s shoulders into his hands “Keith. Babe... Babe, you need to wake up for me” Keith fought his hold, Lance afraid he was going to have to slap him, when his husband’s eyes suddenly shot open. Disorientated, it took Keith a few moments to meet his eyes. When he did, his husband crumpled. Gathering him up, Lance rubbed his back as he hushed him softly “You’re ok, mullet. You’re ok... it was just a dream” Nodding, Keith still clung to him tightly “Sorry” “It’s alright. As long as you’re alright... I’ve got you” “I had a nightmare” Mumbled into his shoulder, Keith continued to shake “I noticed. Do you want to tell me?” “It’s stupid” Trust his husband to call anything he couldn’t handle “stupid” “It’s not stupid. We both have nightmares, babe. We can’t help it...” “But it is...” “Were you chased by giant ducks?” Keith snorted wetly, Lance nuzzling his hair “No. No. Allura came back and she and Lotor killed you... I couldn’t stop them. They cut... they... she...” “Ok. Ok. Deep breaths for me. I’m here” Knowing it was Allura hurt. She’d done this to his body in the first place, and he’d been blissfully free of her hauntings for a small while now. He made an educated guess that they’d done something about the twins in his nightmare, by the way Keith shook harder when he got to “they cut...” “It was awful” “I know, babe. But she’s gone. They’re both gone. And we’re all safe... We’re all safe... I’m safe” “I can’t lose you... or the twins... I can’t be left behind again” “Shhhh... I’m not leaving. You’re my husband... two halves of the same idiot” “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I’m crying over a stupid dream” “Babe, it’s not the first time and I know it sucks, but I’m here. Being home must have brought back up so much for you... but I’m ok. Your babies are ok... we’re ok” “It felt...” “It felt way too real?” Keith nodded. Lance knew exactly what he meant. He’d seen Keith killed in front of him more than he liked to admit, or think about “Here, lay back down so I can hold you properly. You can rub the belly as much as you want” Sniffling, Keith leaned back. His husband’s eyes red rimmed and face a total mess. Smiling softly, Lance leaned in to kiss him, wishing he could kiss the pain away “Sorry...” “Don’t even think about apologising again. You’re my husband, Keith. The father of our twins. And one hell of a bad arse with his share of scars. We’ve been through some really really scary things, but we’re safe here in the shack. Just the two... three... five of us...?” Yeah. 5. Them. Their fur son and their twins. 5... His drawn out math drawing a smile from Keith, Keith returning the kiss with a soft nuzzle “Our family’s really getting bigger” “Yep. I think I’ve popped further... but I’d have to check the photos...” “You’ve been taking photos?” “I know I’ve gotten bigger since we got here... I took some... I... wanted to want this too, but it’s hard seeing my body growing bigger” Nuzzling harder, Keith’s kiss was more ”sexual” than ”comforting”. Keith’s wrists moving to rub at his neck “You’re beautiful. You’re so fucking beautiful...” “And you’re a mess. Now lay down so you can have cuddles” It took a good hour of pampering attention on Lance’s stomach for Keith to settle. Lance was barely conscious, the feel of Keith’s slightly rough fingertips lulling him like the world’s sweetest lullaby into a feeling of safety and security that his anxieties hadn’t allowed. Growing babies took so much out of him. He’d found a new respect for every working pregnant woman. His body wanted sleep. He wanted sleep. His bladder wanted freedom. Keith needed him awake. Keith was more important to him than his own rest and needs. His husband wasn’t able to “lay still”, he wouldn’t stop rubbing at the taunt skin as he kissed and nuzzled the swell... after forcing Lance to pull his shirt off so he could double check that Lance hadn’t been gutted for their twins. Crawling back up to rest with his head on Lance’s arm, Keith snuggled into his chest “Feeling better?” “Yeah. I’ve calmed down... My instincts got the better of me. That dream... I could feel your blood on my hands as I tried to keep your organs from falling out. Lotor, he was holding our twins. Allura...” “They’re gone. Allura and Lotor are gone. You don’t need to keep thinking about it” “I know” “Then you’ll be ok with taking a nap? I’m pretty beat” “I don’t think I can. Not yet” “Then do that creepy thing you do when you watch me sleep” “It’s not creepy. It’s the only time you’re quiet” Keith was joking. He was joking and he knew it... Yet it stung “My bad. I’ve cleaned through the shack and did the meal prep. It just needs to be popped in the microwave when you get hungry. You can go ahead and eat when you feel like it, but don’t forget to take your meds when you do, and don’t forget you need to use your crutches” Keith picked up on his hurt. His husband frowning “Did I say something wrong?” Forcing a smile for Keith’s sake, Lance squashed his pain down “Nah. I’m just tired from growing your babies. Nothing that a nap won’t fix” “Alright... you were yawning constantly” “Because it’s hard work... I feel like I could sleep for a year” “Then you should have come to bed. You’re supposed to stay off your knee” “I didn’t want to disturb you. You had a long day” “That’s not excuse. You’re not supposed to be doing the housework in my shack. You’re my husband” “And you’re my husband. Is it so crazy that I might want to be there for you too” “But it’s my job to take care of you...” Job... It was a job to take care of him... No. He wasn’t going to cry. Keith was right. He was a job. A whole lot of hard work that his husband didn’t need.