#pidge is so mean and her parents are so nice and nobody can understand how that happened

[klanced]

lance and hunk both come from a family full of haters (/positive) they have inherited a family legacy of hating and both are determined to fulfill their destiny. keith is an interesting mix of shiro’s non-hater energy and adam’s full-hater lifestyle so he balances things out by being an occasional bitch. allura and romelle both come from non-hater normie households (however romelle is working hard to become a first-generation hater). coran isn’t a hater he’s just occasionally snobby. the holts are like the most mild and pleasant normie family of all time and nobody understands how they managed to produce pidge who is by and large the biggest asshole and hater on team voltron

[daverygalskisbff]

could we get some allura & lance friendship prompts? i LOVED your other ones btw 💖💖💖💖

HI I'm sorry this took forever I have honestly no idea why bc I adore these two and I ADORE this prompt so my brain should not have shut down the way it did. anywayz to make up for the wait i tried to make this a bit longer than my usual posts :) I hope you like it!

(also, as usual, everything here I came up with myself, and if there's any similarity to someone elses post I apologise and promise it wasn't intentional)

now without further ado,

Lance and Allura!

similar to lance and pidge, the two are decidedly Not close in the beginning 

i had an entire thing about how i imagine they became friends at first written out, but it was a tad too long and i didn't want to clog up the post with too much exposition. so instead, let's just skip forward and get into their dynamic after they become buddies :) (however, if anyone wants to see the backstory I would not be opposed) 

although he no longer has a crush on her, lance makes it a point to hype her up as much as he possibly can 

at first allura was confused, because she thought it was him trying to flirt with her still, but once she understood what was going on she was more than willing to join in 

lance when allura completely destroys the training droid: WOWZA ladies and gentlemen of the jury may I present to you the icon the legend the moment herself her royal highness princess allura of altea!!!!! if you thought that was impressive just WAIT till she gets warmed up because this is just the beginning!!! she can even do it in heels- 

shiro: lance, please focus, this is really important that we- 

allura: no no, shiro, please. let him finish. 

they both show their friendship in slightly different ways. lance's way is that he is physically incapable of not humouring the princess

allura when lance shows her his cartwheel: incredible!!!!!!! i have never been more impressed in my life!!! do you think you could do it in heels?? 

lance: uhhh. y'know princess I'm really loving the faith, but- 

allura: :)? 

lance:.... what if you don't have my size? 

lance fractured his ankle. allura has yet to stop apologising. 

allura's way is definitely safer, but it's also a lot more... cluttered. to say the least.

allura, returning from a recon mission with a tiny bag filled with what looks like tiny, glittery dinosaur figurines made of glass: lance! look at what i bought for you! 

lance, taking one look at the contents of the bag: wow, 'lurra, this is… so nice of you

allura: lance, are you. are you crying? 

lance (definitely crying): what? NO! of course not!! I'm just. allergic, to. uh. oxygen. 

allura: what. 

allura never had any siblings back on altea, but she always wanted them

this, paired with how much lance misses his own family, means that the two of them kind of gravitate towards each other in terms of siblinghood. 

as a child allura would imagine what it would be like to have siblings, but especially a twin. she would fall asleep to dreams of secret handshakes, finishing each other's sentences, and swapping places to trick people

she doesn't realise the brother she has found in lance until a long time after they've become close (how would she recognise a dynamic she has never been privy to?) 

this realisation happens on just a random day in the castleship lounge. she is talking to hunk, when suddenly lance, who she didn't even realise was listening to their conversation, butts in and finishes her sentence. 

she's annoyed at being interrupted at first, but then what happened sinks in, and suddenly she's fighting off tears. lance doesn't know why she's crying, but he hugs her anyway. 

the two of them match accessories a lot 

with allura's love of pretty things (and the abundance of stuff in her closet) paired with lance's natural dramatics, nobody else on the team is entirely sure of whether this is intentional or not. 

it started off as intentional. it is now second nature. 

one decision, however, was completely planned and thought out for exactly twenty minutes, and then deeply regretted by both parties for the next 48 hours

allura pierced lance's ears 

now before you get judgemental, you try making a smart decision at two am space-time while very giddy and slightly buzzing on some weird old alien candy that not even your resident alien is sure the ingredients of. then talk to me. 

pidge: okay so you're gonna need a needle, ice, and… yeah I'm pretty sure that's it 

lance: don't we need a potato too

pidge: … why the fuck would you need a potato 

lance: I dunno!!! my sister pierced her friend's ears one time and she mentioned a potato!!! I'm just trying to make sure everything goes well, pidge! 

allura: I love these earth customs you two are showing me!! when I got my ears pierced it was done with some kind of laser, but your way sounds much more fun :). 

allura: also, what is a "potato" and where can we find one? 

it goes about as well as you would expect 

the excited buzz on lance lasts about three ticks into the process, and then the screaming starts

pidge (the genius who came up with the idea) gives him some altean taffy to chew on to stop him from making too much noise, and allura, the angel, is babbling right along with him 

allura, with tears in her eyes: how was I supposed to know it was going to hurt mine didn't hurt well it was 10,000 years ago and I was very young altean children don't have very strong pain receptors you know, maybe that's why my parents had it done at that age, or maybe your people are just completely barbaric, who thought this would be a good idea?? pidge why did you suggest this poor lonce is in tears lonce I'm so sorry but if it's any consolation at all at least now your ears won't be nearly as hideous as before and you can borrow as many of my earrings as you want except for the sparkly green ones that dangle those are my favourite well they're actually my second favourite I'm wearing my favourite - you can't borrow those either, by the way, but you can have any of the others I promise 

lance, also crying and still chewing the altean taffy: hhb, llura yub domf hoff do bologuys, ss long'ss yub sanstsd thu niddle frst 

allura (who did not remember to sanitize the needle), now crying freely: I don't understand what you're saying 

(pidge records the entire thing)

the next day lance wakes up with ears that are very sore and slightly green, and allura faints

they spend the entire morning avoiding shiro in case they get in trouble and trying to figure out how to get the healing pods to work

lance: what do you mean you don't know allura you literally lived in one of these 

allura: I was asleep the whole time!!! don't put this on me!! 

lance: don't put- you are the one that pierced my ears, allura, of course it's on you!

coran, who has been watching this entire interaction in silence: oh, I thought i noticed something different about you, number three! 

lance and allura: [screaming] 

coran helps them set up the healing pod 

unfortunately lance has to take the earrings out, so the holes close back up, but fortunately coran just so happens to know how to pierce ears the correct way that they did on altea 

lance, after half a day in the healing pod, watching coran advance upon him with a literal handheld flamethrower that shoots lasers: is it too late to go back to the ear infection 

coran is surprisingly very adept at the skill of altean beautification (an activity that has a surprisingly long and rich backstory, which lance and allura get an in-depth lesson on for the hour that it takes to do lance's ears properly) 

they're exhausted afterwards, but lance looks great, so they're in good moods regardless 

they like to teach each other about things from their respective planets - both for fun, and because it helps them feel less homesick 

whenever allura is particularly down about the loss of altea, lance will visit her in her room, and the two of them will just lie together on her bed. 

they don't say much, most of the time, just link their pinkies together and stare at the ceiling 

when they do talk, it's quiet, and always allura who starts it - she might share something she remembers about altea, and lance listens quietly and then responds with something he misses about cuba 

it isn't always sad tho - sometimes they just talk about things they remember that pop into their heads, or explain things to each other that they wouldn't otherwise know 

at the space mall, they make a game out of pointing things out to each other and trying to guess what it is (allura can only guess when they're in the earth shop, but it's okay because she more than makes up for it in enthusiasm) 

lance, holding a my little pony collectible: okay princess. what is this.

allura, completely serious: a weapon

lance: ... close

allura, holding up a set of magnetic heart necklaces to the light: what does… "biffs" mean? 

lance: it's "bffs," princess, it means "best friends forever" 

allura: oh! you mean like me and you? 

lance: 

lance: 'lurra what did we say about making me cry in public, we've talked about this- 

(they buy the necklaces. obviously.)

they mess with each other's hair a lot

once allura learns that lance's hair is naturally curly, and that he just straightens it all of the time, she makes it her god-given mission to convince him to wear it naturally more often

this mission includes plans such as stealing his hair straightener, "donating" a bunch of curly hair products to him because she "doesn't have the space", and getting keith to say he thinks curly hair is cool one day in the rec room

she still thinks it's the funniest thing ever that that actually worked

other than week-long sabotage plots, they both think it's fun to have lance braid allura's hair

he used to braid his sister's and niece's hairs all of the time, so he has a knack for it that allura did not expect at all but is obsessed with anyway

allura, coming to lance's room a few hours before another diplomatic party: hey..... how yall doin.....

lance, already prepared with a million different brushes and bands: oh my god just get in already

lance and allura have a lot in common 

one of these things, they learn very early into their relationship, is that they are both disasters when it comes to pretty girls (and boys, but that's a lance-exclusive situation)

so they become each other's wingmen

they both tend to get… a little too into it 

the team: [at a diplomatic ball]

lance, seeing a pretty alien girl looking allura's way and "politely" speedwalking over to her: alluralluraalluraalluraalluralluraalluraalluraalluralluraalluraallura pretty girl look over there eleven o'clock LOOK she's gonna walk away looklooklook

allura: lance darling thank you so much for your help but I am in the middle of talking to the president 

and alternatively: 

allura tries to set lance and keith up all the time. at first she was worried she would be overstepping boundaries, but after one particular sleepover where lance spent an entire hour lamenting his "bad luck" she decided to take things into her own hands 

this includes, but is not limited to; sending them on supply missions alone together (often), mentioning particular things lance has done to his appearance to keith every time she can, and talking about specific paladin bonds more than she maybe should 

lance hates it

keith, walking into the lounge: h-

allura, immediately: hello keith!! help settle an argument, will you :)? 

keith: um… okay 

allura: lovely! now, tell me, do you think lance looks cuter today than he did yesterday? we can't seem to agree on whether or by he's stunning or simply handsome. what do you think? 

keith: uh-

allura: oh, and while I have you, have you noticed that his ears are pierced? 

lance, beet red: allu-

allura: what :(?? can't i be proud of my handiwork?? 

lance, to keith: I am not associated with her

after a week of this keith literally sets up a system where if allura is in a room he walks into he just does a complete 180 and walks back out

one time, at a diplomatic meeting, an alien politician mistook them for a couple and they both choked on their drinks at the same time, and then got offended that the other one agreed that the concept was insane 

allura: what happened to being the princess of your dreams, lance?? I thought I MEANT something to you. obviously! i was wrong! 

lance: oh yeah?? then why did you GIGGLE, allura. what's so funny, huh?? my good looks??? my charming charisma?? how far out of your league I am??? 

allura: 

lance: okay maybe that last one was a bit of a stretch 

another thing lance and allura do is pronounce each other's names wrong

they call each other lonce and allora 

it started as lance kind of making fun of allura's accent, but turned into just one of their Things 

allura honestly didn't know it was a bit until the habit had been long constructed

[loveafterthefact]

Love After the Fact Chapter 12: Follow Me to the Letter

Keith takes a moment to reflect on his first few movements on Altea.

First  Previous  Next

Keith fails to show up to court again. Lance isn’t overly surprised. The man (kit?) seems to struggle with patience, and holding court tends to push him to the very precipice of his self-control.

It’s odd, truth be told, that Keith is so lacking patience when he’s always so reserved. Lance would like to see the Galra open up a bit more. Quiznak, he’d just like to see him a bit more! Keith is almost always wandering around somewhere or hiding in his loft. Lance finds it lonely, but he’s not sure if he’s lonely for himself or for Keith.

He doesn’t have time for others anymore, having thrust himself into his adult duties. The duties that have been neglected since tensions rose between Altea and Daibazaal. His sister is gone. He and his two friends are quite busy, and never free at the same time. He only has Keith and maybe Adam, and Keith has only him and maybe Adam, when the other Altean isn’t running around micromanaging everything. That’s all there is for them.

Lance heads for the only place he’d bother to check before returning to their room. If Keith isn’t in the library, then he’s either in their quarters or wandering about. If he’s wandering about, Lance will never find him. He wouldn’t want to. He’s pretty sure Keith goes out to be alone.

Keith is in the library. He's sitting at a desk, stylus in hand, staring vacantly at his datapad. It looks like he’s been there for a while. “Hey. Finished holding court? How many windows are we replacing?”

“Yes, I am finished. None. However, there’s a missing cobblestone that broke the wheel of a wagon yesterday. So, a legitimate minor concern. I’ve issued a decree to have it fixed. I also performed a marriage.”

“Hm. Was it as dry and lifeless as ours?”

“No, they were passionate and full of joy. I’d never performed a marriage before. It was... nice.”

“Hm.” Keith taps listlessly at his datapad.

“So what have you been doing?”

“I… Nevermind. It’s nothing.”

Pfft. Right. Lance pulls over another chair, sitting backwards with his arms crossed over the back.

“Nonsense! What’s the matter?”

“I wanted to write a letter to my mother and brother.” Keith stares at nothing. Perhaps a dust mote or something. “I just can’t think of anything.”

“I thought you wanted to sever ties with your mother? At least temporarily?”

Keith’s ears droop as his body seems to shrink. “I know… I know I did. But…”

“But you miss her.” Keith nods, and Lance reaches over and rubs that spot Keith himself sometimes does. The one behind his ear that releases soothing hormones. Keith leans into the touch, allowing Lance to comfort him. That’s more proof than anything else that Keith is upset; he’s allowing himself to be cared for. It's nice to know the Galra trusts him, though. “Would you like me to help? I can help you get something down if you want.”

Keith nods. “Thank you.”

Lance smiles. Keith usually comes off as lukewarm thanks to his quiet, reserved ways, but Lance has found that if he says something, he means a lot more than the words he uses. 'Thank you' means 'I deeply appreciate your help and compassion. I could probably use some kind of affection later and definitely need some cheering up.'

“Alright. So first give a general greeting. Talk about how you’re feeling, genuinely, but avoid specific incidents.”

“You want me to tell them-”

“That you miss them so much it hurts? That you’re not happy, but not really unhappy either? That you just feel kinda empty? Yes. Tell them. But don't tell them that nobody will let you do anything and that you feel useless and imprisoned.”

Keith swallows hard. His eyes burn quite suddenly. “How-”

“Allura and Romelle. It’s how I feel when I think of them. And how they felt their first few phoebs on Daibazaal. Well that's how Allura felt. Romelle... That's for another time.” Keith glances up to see that Lance looks as vaguely sad as he himself feels. Keith begins to write as Lance gets up, thumbing through tablets and pulling random volumes from the shelves. Adam hustles in moments later, drops his own datapad, and begins to assist Lance with his work.

Mother, Takashi,

It’s been a little while now since I have seen you, and I have not heard from Daibazaal at all, so I assume you are doing well. Life here is fine. I am not happy, but I am not quite unhappy, either. Crown Prince Lancel is the only person I truly interact with, at least for long periods of time. I believe he understands my situation, given how dearly he misses his sister and her lover. He mentions them often.

I made one friend, and Lance wants me to meet someone else, but he’s been busy lately and Pidge is not always available. The guards won’t talk to me. Adam says it’s because I haven’t proven myself yet. He says they’ll warm up to me if I contribute something. I’m not sure I believe him.

“Lance?”

“Hm? Hey, what is it with Lotor and his aversion to water conservation?”

“I’ve finished. Water conservation? What for?”

“Well it’s not like it falls from the sky, or anything!” Lance whines. Keith frowns. Yes, water does fall from the sky. What is Lance talking about? “Okay, so now write about one thing you dislike and one thing you enjoy. Then ask them a question they can respond to so you set up a correspondence.”

Keith sucks on his lip for a moment, continues writing.

Lance holds court every movement. Sometimes twice, if he runs out of time the first day. I find it tedious and frustrating. Alteans live such comfortable lives, they find the most trivial things to complain about. I find myself at the end of my patience more quickly than even you might believe. I don’t know how Lance puts up with it. I think he’d rather do something more useful. But he also doesn’t wish for Alfor to know he is useful. I don’t understand, but Adam expects me to go along with it.

It’s pretty here. The ground is covered in soft moss. There are trees that sound like windchimes, and the garden has little flying creatures called bumblemoths. I like them. I’ve befriended a few. They keep trying to follow me inside. Lance pretends to be mad about it, but he is fond of them too. He’s named them after their colors. There are six.

Keith glances back to where Lance is sitting at his own desk, glaring down at a few different tablets, searching for keywords, typing furiously on his datapad, leaning to whisper something to Adam every now and them. “What about this? Lotor says that the Stone Forest is rife with predators?”

“We also have predators.”

“But not this many! What the utter quiznak?! They turn their prey inside out before eating them?! ”

“Okay, that I don’t like. That’s just too much. Completely unnecessary.”

“Right?!” Lance mutters something under his breath. Keith smiles, tentatively fond. 

Oddly, the thing I find myself enjoying most is the Prince himself. Lance is kind, understanding, and does not want to touch me. In fact, I believe he is horrified by my age. He does not look at me while I change.

Or perhaps he simply finds me ugly. I do not know. But still, he is funny, and he treats me well. King Alfor gave him a choice, and he chose to marry me. I can’t help but respect him for that. He loves his people and is working to better their lives. It would seem he also works closely with Lotor, perhaps to break down their fathers’ more archaic policies.

He seems smart, too, despite not appearing to know what rain is. He also did not know what taxes were until Adam told him, but caught on very quickly. I think he will make a good king one day. I am curious to see what he may become, if we might become better friends. Speaking of friends, Takashi, have you spoken to Adam? He says no, but that man lies like I take a drink of water. Mother, how are you and Kolivan? I miss you both, and hope you are well. Are the guards in top form yet?

Has the brush begun to bloom yet? What phases are the moons in? Altea doesn’t have a moon and I miss it, though I can sometimes see Kraav’nik’da during the darkest hours of night.

Love,

Crown Prince Yorak (Keith) of the Kingdom of Altea and of House Kogane of Daibazaal

“I make a potion for that,” Adam says, cutting through Keith’s thoughts of home.

“Really?” Lance raises his eyebrows, seeming only mildly surprised.

“Of course. Impotence cures are one of the most common requests I receive. That and contraception.”

“Well, fortunately for us, there is no question of Crown Prince Lotor’s genetics. His heritage is quite apparent.”

“Thank quiznak for that. With all our other problems, paternity is the last thing I want to deal with. It’s good you look so like both of your parents.”

“Given my father’s proclivities, it’s a miracle he managed to procreate at all.”

“Too true. Too true. Honestly, I like my own chances better. And that’s saying something.”

Keith smirks, deciding to make his way into the conversation. “Shiro’s biology is identical to mine. I’m sure you wouldn’t have too much trouble.”

Lance laughs evilly, grinning ear-to-pointed ear. He picks up quickly.

“Oh not this again,” Adam mutters.

“Is that so? Tell us, Adam. Did you send Shiro off with a ‘going away’ present?” Lance is thoroughly unrepentant, moving to lean against the back of Keith’s chair. Keith hides his laughter behind his hand.

“That would be the ugliest quiznaking kid,” Keith snickered.

“You never know. Lotor turned out okay,” Lance countered. “Pity he can’t bear. Or myself...”

“That’s it. I quit. You’re on your own, your Majesties.” The princes protest, still laughing. “No. I draw the line at listening to His Majesty’s sexual fantasies. I’m not that kind of attendant. Good day.”

Keith giggles, watching his spouse double over with laughter, waving as Adam flees the room. He eyes Lance, wonders what it’s like to look at and be physically attracted to any random person. He brings up another form, typing in Shiro’s comms code. He has things to tell his brother.

Alteans are weird.

[panda-noosh]

what kind of person do you think each of the paladins would be attracted to? like appearance and personality?

Here you go!

+++

Shiro:

although Shiro is naturally a very protective person, i honestly don’t think he would be too compatible with somebody who actually needs protecting.

of course, i think all of the Paladins could fall in love with just about anyone if they were nice enough, but it’s not a secret that personality really does come into the equation.

and with Shiro, i truly think he would want somebody mentally strong.

everyone has their baggage, and everyone goes through tough times, and Shiro of all people knows that - but he also has been on the side of things where he’s had to get himself through that. he has his own coping mechanisms, his own way of dealing with things, and i think he would find it very attractive for his S/O to have those same skills.

i’m not saying that to mean he wouldn’t help his S/O through life and whenever they’re going through a particularly hard time, but he just wants somebody who knows how to take care of themselves, who won’t rely on him 24/7.

he also finds it very attractive whenever a person knows they’re worth. whenever he sees somebody talking back to somebody else after being disrespected, putting somebody in their place, he just admires them for the rest of the day.

Keith:

honestly, i don’t even think Keith himself knows what he’s looking for in a S/O.

it’s never really been something that plays on his mind tbh.

but i think it would be natural for him to gravitate towards somebody who takes a lot of pride in their work. somebody who doesn’t half-ass a lot of stuff.

it’s more of an instant respect than an attraction, I’d say, but if you love the work you do and are dedicated to it, that’s definitely a good start for winning Keith over.

although, one thing Keith absolutely hates is somebody who goes on and on about how much work they do.

it’s one thing to visibly love and dedicate yourself to the things you love, but whenever it’s clear that you’re only doing it for the recognition, Keith just gets pissed off.

like whenever somebody has just finished a long day of work and they sit down and are like, “Oh my god, i’m so tired, i just worked 14 straight hours, and this happened, and this happened, and this happened” etc etc, Keith just kind of blanks out because he literally does not care one bit.

he admires people who are humble about their craft, just like he is.

Lance:

obviously you have to be a bit of fun.

Lance may notice looks initially, but once he gets to know you, he wants to see a little bit of fun to your personality - he wants to be able to joke around and have a good time with his S/O without feeling judged for being too childish.

that’s not to say you have to be as crazy and loud as Lance - he knows that it’ll be rare to find somebody quite like that - but you have to at least not take everything so seriously.

if you’re scolding him for being too loud every two seconds, he’s gonna get pissed off with you, because that kind of thing just frustrates him.

but at the same time, he also likes somebody who can put other people in their place when the need arises - maybe even putting him in his place sometimes.

because there are times when he gets a little bit too excited, and he knows he’s getting too excited - so to have his S/O knowing just when to step in to put a halt to things is very important to him.

but again, i cannot stress this enough, that you have to love Lance for Lance. you can’t expect him to suddenly become this suit-and-tie wearing man with a grim expression on all the time - if you truly want to be with Lance, you have to be prepared for the craziness, and you have to be ready to deal with it.

Hunk:

OKAY AS CHEESY AS IT SOUNDS, MANNERS AND BEING RESPECTFUL ARE EVERYTHING TO HUNK GARRETT.

Hunk grew up in a household with a whole lot of people - that includes the elderly.

he had his nan with him, his granda on his other arm, his uncle and aunts sitting round the kitchen table. Hunk grew up with respect lodged into his brain and that was all he knew.

so whenever he sees a person helping out the elderly, or perhaps helping their parents take the groceries in, or getting out of their seat to let somebody else sit down - that kind of thing will melt him.

and it’s so simple, such a small and expected thing, but honestly, Hunk isn’t going to be picky.

out of all the Paladins, I think Hunk’s ‘rules’ are the easiest to follow, because if you’re nice and you respect the people around you, you are eligible to win his heart.

he doesn’t like this whole ‘teenage-attitude’ thing that a lot of people talk about. people who are too embarrassed to be seen out in public with their parents, people who spend all their time with their phones to their faces, ignoring the people around them. he likes to sit down and have a normal conversation every now and then, and he would honestly never even dream of bringing his phone to the table during dinner or any type of family gathering.

honestly, just respect and manners. that’s all it takes.

Pidge:

oof 100% somebody who she can talk to for hours on end.

Pidge has a lot in her brain, a lot of knowledge, a lot of things she wants to share - sadly, it’s very rare that she actually finds people willing to listen to her speak about said subjects for hours on end.

like Keith, i don’t think Pidge’s criteria is something she spends too long pondering over, and these rules can definitely change if she meets the right person, but somebody who she can comfortably talk to about her hobbies and interests is something she would definitely like in her relationship.

she grew up being told to be quiet. she often gets in these trances where she’ll just go on and on about something that nobody else really understands, and for her entire life, she’s been told be to quiet, been told that nobody cares.

so if she were to find somebody who would actually sit and listen to her talk about these things, she’s gonna be really flattered and probably fall in love on the spot idk.

there will definitely be bonus feelings if this particular person also has interests that they’re very passionate about, interests that they can also sit and talk about for hours. because whilst Pidge enjoys talking about her own hobbies, she also loves listening to others talk about the things they love.

she basically just wants to trade knowledge. 

[klanceweek]

Red + Blue = Purple

submitted by autumn

Day 1

it’s my first fanfic/story, and it’s not as long as I would like but hope you enjoy!

--mod ana commenting real quick: i think i caught all the author notes for correction but if i’m wrong, please notify me thank you

Keith’s POV Yet again, we are fighting another Galra fleet. I can’t count how many we have defeated by now, and we have not had ONE break or relaxation time. It’s just been constant, eat, sleep, then fight. It’s like a never ending battle, which it basically is by this point. 

(More after the break!)

What gets me however- “Ring Ring! Schmoopsy poo! I’ve missed you!” - is Lance’s “girl friend.” “LANCE!” the team shouts for the umpteenth time. “Yeesh, sorry, I’m just talking to my girlfriend, no need to shout!” The first time it was fine, the second time inconvenient, the third annoying, and the twentieth time, in the middle of battle, is an major issue. 

“Lance, you need to tell your..girlfriend…to stop calling when we are fighting the Galra!” So please wait until we are back at the castle.“ Shiro replies clearly fed up with the whole situation.

Wait, did he say Schmoopsy poo? What the heck! I decide to voice my thoughts, “Schmoopsy poo, seriously Lance?”

“At least I have a girlfriend!” “Team! Focus! And Lance, hang up already!” They decide to form Voltron however they don’t even get a chance to fight because the Galra immediately flee when they see the giant robot. “Seriously!” Pidge exclaims,“We fight them for hours and they don’t even have the gal to finish the fight!?” “At least we can finally relax.” Hunk sighs. The lions head back to the castle. In the hanger everyone makes their way to the control room where Allura is waiting. They all head their, albeit very slowly, but eventually get there, whilst dragging their feet. They all have dark bags, frazzled hair, and look very worn out. Even the immaculate Lance looks tired. “Paladins, I’ve decided that we all need a break, so we won’t fight any more Galra unless it’s an emergency.” Allura states, looking quite worn herself. On cue, Lance’s girlfriend, cecilia, calls again. I head to my room intending to get some rest, when Lance bumps into my shoulder, too busy talking to Cecilia. I growl in annoyance and enter my room flopping on my bed. It feels like i’m sleeping in the clouds, maybe i’ll even get more than four hours of sleep. My eyelids start to get heavier and heavier, then bed swallowing me in it’s warm embrace, and blanket weighing me down further..“.lance…ove..ou….schmoo…”…ugh…I slowly start to wake up. The first thing I notice is that Lance is on the phone talking to someone. At 2 in the morning! Unfortunately, my room is right next to Lance’s, and he is talking so loud that I can hear him through the walls! I walk to his room and, politely, knock on the door,“Shut up Lance! Some people are trying to sleep!” Lance pokes his head out the door, whispering so he doesn’t bother the others, (yet he has no problem bothering me). “Shhh! I’m talking to Cecilia!” “And I’m trying to sleep!” “Then you should have thought of that before waking up, it’s not my problem, now shoo!” He waves his hand in a shooing motion. Something snaps… “Did you just…shoo me? Seriously! Are you fucking serious! I am so fed up with your shit! Why the hell are you even with her! You can’t possibly think it’ll last, she literally live on another fucking planet! Just break up already!” Keith yells. In hindsight he could have said it more nicely. “What do you know!” Lance shouts, “You have no right to tell me who I can or can’t date! I love her! Can’t you understand that?!” “This is not love, it’s just a little crush that is a burden to everyone.” Keith states calmly expecting Lance to understand. “What the fuck do you know! You’ve never loved anybody! You’re cold hearted and selfish! Hell, nobody loves or has ever loved you! That’s why  you’re an orphan!” Lance yells, then his eyes widen in horror as he realizes what he just said. He sees Keiths wide teary eyes, mouth slightly open in shock, looking at Lance in anguish. Keith lowers his head in acceptance, shadows covering his eyes as a tear slides down his pale cheek. Lance reaches out his hand feeling his insides twist in guilt, “Keith, I-” “You’re right, no one’s ever loved me, not even my parents.” Keith whispers, voice hoarse, then desperately runs off down the hall, tears trailing in his wake. “Wait, I’M…i’m…sorry…so sorry…i’m so so sorry.” Lance sinks to his knees leaning on the door frame. Eyes misty, he curls up and harshly tugs his hair in self-hatred. This is how Shiro finds Lance as he walks around the corner, probably hearing Lance and Keith earlier. Shiro kneels next to Lance features softening into understanding,. “If you need to talk about it, i’m here for you."After a small pause he asks, "Did you have a fight with Cecilia?” “No..I-I yelled at Keith and said..something…horrible. I don’t even know why!” “What did you fight about?” Shiro inquires softly. Lance quietly explains,“I think I woke Keith up and…a-and I yelled at him saying that he…h-he…he’s never been in a…relationship..so how could he understand!” Lance laughs hollowly, “What’s funny is that i’m not in a relationship, never was, I just….was jealous and I wanted him to feel jealous or something for once besides hate.” “Look, Lance, Keith doesn’t hate you, even now. He’s more sensitive than you know and doesn’t know how to interact well with others. He’s afraid of being rejected or hurt or hurting someone else, so he never even gives them a chance. But with Voltron, us, he’s finally opening up, and he has greater feelings for you than you know.” “Well, I just smashed those feelings into smithereens. I don’t know what to do Shiro, how can I possibly make up for what i’ve done? I told him nobody loves him, but I..I lied…I…what should I do?” “Well for starters we need to find him and you need to apologize and tell him how you feel.” Shiro starts standing up, taking Lance’s hand to help him up as well. “Okay,” Sniff,“I’ll do that, but where did he go?” Hunk and Pidge walk around the corner and see Lance and Shiro. “Hey guys, why are you up so late?” “Hunk, Pidge, can you help us find Keith, he’s very upset right now and i’m worried.” says Shiro “I saw him run down the hall a while ago.” Hunk yawns. “I’ll hack the cameras and see where he went.” Pidge states, pushing up their glasses. They watch on Pidges computer as Keith heads in a seemingly random direction, then enters a vent. The rest of the paladins decide to split up in order to cover more ground. Lance wanders aimlessly, thinking about his actions and where Keith could possibly have gone. Suddenly, he remembers one time Keith took him to the top of one of the towers saying how he sometimes goes there when he feels overwhelmed. The blue paladin sprints down halls ways trying to remember how to get to the tower. Finally, he finds a purple door painted with flowers. As he scales the long winding stair, Lance can’t help but think he feels like a knight rescuing a princess. He cracks a sardonic smile at that thought, he sure doesn’t act like a knight, and that is going to stop. He is going to admit his feeling, consequences be damned. Reaching the last step, he hesitates, then squares his shoulders and opens the door. He stands in awe of the beauty of the place. Purple flowers swaying without wind, petals floating on calm music with a tone of sadness.There, in the middle of the field, Keith is hunched over, head buried in his arms. The flowers almost glow around Keith giving him an ethereal beauty. However, Lance notices the shaking of Keith’s shoulders, and a chocked sob that wrenches at his soul. He has never seen Keith cry, and in his heart he resolves to make sure the red paladin never cries from sadness again. Lance slowly approaches, carefully avoiding crushing the flowers. He kneels behind Keith and reaches his arms around the black haired pilot, gently embracing him. Keith gasps as he snaps his head up towards Lance. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean what I said. I can’t tell you how sorry I am, and I don’t expect you to forgive me but, I wanted to tell you that people do love you. The whole team loves you Keith.” “How do I know you’re not lying. No one’s ever loved me before, as you said. How do I know you’re telling the truth?"Keith tries curling up tighter to distance himself from Lance. "Because Keith, I…I love you…more than a friend or brother…I love love you, I have for a while now, and i’m sorry I deceived everyone, but I was never in a relationship."Lance explains, wrapping his arms tighter around the other paladin. He can hear the others fast heart beat and erratic breathing. Lance sees how Keith’s eyes are red and puffy, but a glimmer of hope is there and Lance grasps the chance like a life line. He tilts Keith’s chin up, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss. Keith freezes in shock, then tears fall again and he kisses back with fervor. Lance brushes his tongue against Keith’s lips, and the later gasps allowing a deeper kiss. They stay there a while embracing the other surrounded in a field of purple flowers. They lay down and look up at the sky, stars reflect in Lance’s eyes as he softly grasps Keith’s hand. Feeling for the first time truly loved, Keith lets one more tear roll down his face, landing on the petal of a blue flower intertwined with a red. ~The End (sorry if it seems rushed or if somethings wrong, I wrote this in under 4 hours, although I have been planning this for a while. I also didnt edit it. I might go back and add much more some other time. Hope you enjoyed it though! I know I enjoyed some of the others!)

[isas-identity]

Lance Vs Shiro: Same ending??

Or what I like to call: Why you should be more mad about Lance’s ending than Shiro’s ending in the clusterfuck called “Voltron’s horrible writing”.

Shiro and Lance had very similar endings in the last episode of Voltron, to put it in simple words: They decided to live a quiet life after the war.

This is kinda long, so i will add everything under the cut, i just want to say sorry for any gammar mistakes beforehand.

How, Lance decided to live in a farm with his family and “Surround himself with The Things He Loves”. Meanwhile Shiro got last-minute married with a dude and “Found his happiness and left the War Efforts Behind”. There’s been a LOT of negative reactions from the fans though, because these endings seemed lazy, out of character, etc. But there’s always a big difference in the spectrum:

People who are upset over Shiro marrying a “nobody” who talked like 2 times, and after Shiro being so happy being the captain and leader of the ATLAS, was being pushed aside to live a quiet life, dont care about Lance’s ending.

People who are upset about Lance’s lackluster ending of working on a farm after being clear about his liking of adventure, giving him a clearly racist ending, and never forgetting or moving on from Allura, don’t mind Shiro’s.

Though they DO think the other’s ending wasnt executed nicely, they don’t think the ending itself is bad per se.

And i know it’s been almost a month since VLD finished, but i found myself wondering why is that i am madder about Lance’s ending tha Shiro’s. So let’s break it down point to point and compare them.

Execution:

When we get to the time-skip, before the explanations of what happenned in the rest of their lifes, we see:

Shiro working as an embassador between planets, still a captain of the ATLAS, traveling through the universe to try and unify planets alongside Hunk who uses his food to help leaders see eye-to-eye.

Lance talking to some kids, telling them about Allura’s sacrifice, and telling them he now works and lives helping out on a farm.

Wich, together with their end cards, gives us the conclutions that:

After their last fight with honerva, Shiro was still Captain of the ATLAS for a few years, he married and decided to retire. We do not know if he married BEFORE or AFTER retiring though. Also, we do not know if he kept working or not after his retirement, since it was only said that he left the “War efforts behind and found happiness”. You can see a lot of things happened during his life as he moved on though.

Even if we, as audience didn’t see it, Shiro spent a few years dating his husband before marrying him, and event though it was pulled out of nowhere as a band-aid, it didn’t felt rushed since it was something that happenned years down the line and out-of-camera. So we are left without any kind of opinion about his relationship with his husband. This also means he spent more time as a captain of the ATLAS than some people seem to believe.

After their last fight, Lance retired from being a paladin and started working on his family’s farm, who suddenly have a family farm,before the war was even completely gone. And then he...kept working on his farm and sometimes talked to little kids about Allura.... thats about it.

It is not said if he “found love” or “happiness” or did anything else than farm and plant junniberries.

Their struggles before retirement:

Now, In this one we need to take a minute to compare these two characters during the show.

There are two things people say when discussing about their endings: “He loved adventure, it was his dream to pilot!! why the heck would he retire!!!!” and the more understanding “Well, he went through a LOT during the war, maybe he had enough and wants to take it easy from now on!".

                  Let’s start with the “They want adventure!” point:

Starting off with Shiro, they say: “He left his fiance because he wanted to be in space that bad! he didnt care if he died!” But i think people misunderstand some things about Shiro in this regard, principally: he was fucking dying.

Shiro had an illness that would leave him unable to move his body before it killed him.

He wanted to prove himself, and go to space, before his body stopped working.

He wanted to leave his mark on history, before he was bound to be stuck on a wheelchair unable to even go to the bathroom, cook or dress himself, so he had something left behind.

So i think people are misplacing his “wanting adventure”, it was more of a cry to wanting to do something with his life before being a vegetable. He was scared of getting nothing done and live his life never doing anything that amounted to anything. Afterwards this problem was solved, wich is not to say he wasn’t happy being apointed being the new captain of the ATLAS and traveling the universe. He WAS. He is a responsible leader and he deserved that position, but he never gave up being a captain after the fight with honerva, again, he was the captain for a few years before retiring when he chose to.

Now, going to Lance’s side, now this kid DID love adventure, breaking the rules, attention, etc. During the series you could see:

Him sneaking out of the Garrison and breaking rules.

Getting inside of alien ships and proceeding to pilot them before the others could finish reacting to seeing an alien ship for the first time.

whooping and hollering while flying in battle.

Actually looking very happy to help others and not backing down at the oportunity to do so.

and that was... like, in the first 3 episodes.

       Now to the “They went through a LOT, they want a quiet life now!

Ok, bear with me and let me just run a thing through you all first.

Shiro is in his late 20′s, probably already 30, an adult and was Captain of the ATLAS for a few years before retiring.

Lance is fucking 18, maybe 19, he’s still a fucking embryo, and probably still has a lot of things to figure out about himself, but still decided to run a farm the instant they defeated Honerva i guess.

Now, during the war Shiro:

Was taken against his will and made a slave in space, was made to fight in the arena for entertanment and fought monsters and probably other aliens, probably even had to kill during this time.

Lost his arm and was experimented upon.

Crashed into earth and lost his memories.

Became the leader of a rag-tag tem of teens in space that was the only hope for the universe.

Suffered of PTSD during all of this.

Almost died a lot of times.

Died.

Became a clone.

This clone proceeded to: Betray his friends, help and spy for Honerva, almost killed Keith, who’s the closest person to him at the time.

Lost his arm again.

Almost got killed by Keith too.

He got his consiousness trasspassed from the Black Lion into the body of his clone, wich, almost rejected him and made him die. Again.

Found out his ex-fiance died and earth was almost anihilated.

We never knew anything about his family, but im sure they died since they never appeared???

etc.

Now, with Lance:

He almost died once, and the fandom is pretty sure he died one time after that but since Allura’s powers are weird we are not even sure what the hell happened there.

He felt doubtful about his position on the team.

He missed his family a lot

The girl he liked didnt like him back...?

His girlfriend of a month and a half sacrificed herseld and died.

uhhh... yeah.

And, like, no. I dont mean to say Lance is a cry-baby because he didnt go through as many things as shiro, or the others. The problem with this, is that it makes no sense because fucking lance never had an arc. The writers never cared about giving him some usefulness, or something that made him shine through, and when he was left at the end, they had nothing for him to do. So they gave him a farm.

But like, even after all the bullshit shiro went through, he moved on with his life, he found happiness and love, was still the captain of the ATLAS for some time before retiring, etc.

But Lance, someone who was so cheerful and up to help other people, who didnt left anything bring him down, just... decided to work on a farm for the rest of his life. Not moving on or anything, wich... yeah, it’s weird.

Keith, who almost died in space 971283678 times, found out he was Fucking Galra, was left alone by his parents, found his mother, was stuck in a space whale’s back for 2 years, was stuck on a leadership position he didnt want?? after uniting the Galra and helping put an end to the war he made a Humanitary Relief Organization, to help people with low resources in the universe.

Pidge? She lost her brother and father, ran away from home, got stuck on a war at fucking 15, had to learn how to fight and pilor, since, you know, she wasnt even a pilot in the first place. Almost lost her father to Zarkon, and believed for some time her Brother was dead. Bue she founded a Space Defenders organization to fight for justice in fucking space, and kept inventing tech to keep helping the universe and fight for the weak.

Hunk? He was a coward, he didnt even wanted to sneak out the garrison, much less get stuck on a space war! He didn’t want to fight, he didn’t want to die. His family was even captured on earth, unlike Lance’s. But he learned to be brave, and fought for people’s freedom. He became a diplomat, and learned how to hone his cooking skills to bring people together, so he became a Culinary Embassador to keep the peace in the universe.

They all are doing something with their lifes to help heal the universe after the war. Even after all they went through together. Even shiro helped for a few years before retiring, exept Lance. Who’s a farmer for some reason.

And i’m not saying that fighting on a War isn’t traumatizing enough, I’m just saying that if someone deserves to find love, retire, and live in the fucking bahamas on eternal vacation for the rest of his life, is Shiro. poor guy needed a break a long time ago.

WICH brings me to the last point of this really long essay:

It’s Implications:

   It is sad that the only reason we got a wedding with shiro was like a bandaid from the lash-back they had from Adam’s death and the constant Bury Your Gays trope. But let me tell you something: it wasn’t badly done. Yeah, I woul’ve liked to see more of Curtis to get to know him, or maybe see Shiro and Him having some kind of interaction before being slapped with a wedding a few years down the line, but that was it. The point of it (appart from rebuilding the bridge with the LGBT+ comunity) was to make it clear that Shiro found love and happiness in his life, wich im happy he did, and this does not contradict anything his character is about:

It makes it clear that it doesnt matter how dark things are right now, it will pass and you will be happy someday, you can still make your dreams come true, you have to fight for it.

It doesnt matter if you lost your arm, got a horrible scar across your face, got white hair, etc. You can find love, you can still lead a happy life.

Now with Lance is way more jarring. He has this “good boy” storyline with his girlfriend, wich sucks since he could’ve been made into an “anyone can be a hero, it doesnt matter if you’re not specially good at anything!” but alas they missed that mark. He really didn’t had any storyline for himself perse, he became The Boyfriend and stayed that way.

He went from “Ohh, I dont feel like i have a place in the team since everyone is awesome and has abilities and I dont” one season to “The girl I like doesn’t like me back!” on the next.

In the last season we got this “The girl I like is finally dating me!” to “oh no, the girl I loved died after dating me for a month”

Then proceeded to “Let me go work in a farm and plant her favorite flowers on it, while I never stop loving her and never move on and keep telling everyone about her sacrifice forever and ever! War who?? My girlfriend sacrificed herself for peace but let me just ignore the war exists still!”

Wich is... sad. They literally never gave anything to Lance to apport to the team or the universe apart from being there for Keith and Allura when they needed cheering up. And even if he himself says “oh im happy, i have a quiet life and that’s how i like it now!” when you think about his ending, you dont feel that way. He literally has nothing, exept his family and flowers.

So yeah, i dont mind Shiro’s ending. It was one of the last things wrong with the ending of the show, even if it was made for the wrong reasons. And i do believe, people should stop hating on it only because they wanted him to happy his little brother whom is almost 10 years younger than him

And yeah, I do think Lance’s ending was racist. I myself am latina, even have a grandfather who owns a farm. Would i go work in his farm for the rest of my life after losing someone i loved? Fuck no. I do not know shit about farms, or farming. He isnt even shown to be specially good with animals, no more than the rest of the gang. And sincerely, that he cut’s himself from the universe and his friends anddoesnt even do anything to help or reconstructing the universe only sounds like depression to me.

But alright then, to each their own in what they want to believe.

[veteran-shipper]

Voltron’s Anatomy

part 2 of ???

so i realize that doing all how-many-bajillion episodes of grey’s anatomy is an improbable task. i’ll probably be mixing and matching episodes because ain’t nobody got time for that, least of all me. plus, let’s be real. we were really only in it for Der and Mer’s Epic Love Story. 

alternatively titled: never air to breathe (never inbetweens).

Pidge slams her locker shut in frustration. “I have got to move out from my parents’ place,” she announces, yanking viciously at her shoelaces. 

“What’s up?” Hunk asks, his forehead creased with concern. 

“Nothing,” she says. “I’m just sick and tired of all the tension because my brother Matt has been MIA. It feels like I’ve been walking on eggshells ever since I moved back for residency. They’re being overprotective, and as much as I understand, I’m a god damn adult, and I can handle the shifts I signed on for. The fact that they also work here is literally my worst nightmare. I can’t believe I agreed to come back.” 

“Why don’t you move into my place, then?” Keith suggests, shrugging his white coat on. “I have the space.”

“I thought you were trying to sell it?” Hunk says, mildly surprised. “What changed?”

Keith shrugs. “I just never got around to it. Plus, I moved back here, didn’t I? Might as well keep it around and get some roommates. It’s practically a family heirloom at this point. What do you say? I’ll keep rent reasonable.”

“I’ll think about it,” Pidge says with a shrug. 

“Sure, just let me know whenever. I have two rooms up for grabs if you want in, too, Hunk,” Keith adds. 

“It would be nice to be in a full house again,” Hunk says wistfully. “I’ve basically been crashing on my uncle’s couch since moving here from Hawaii.” 

The three of them approach Altea for their assignments of the day. Altea’s eyes narrow. “Where’s Lance?” she asks. Keith shoves his hands in his coat pockets and shrugs. 

“Dr. Altea! Sorry to keep you waiting!” Lance skids to a stop, just barely keeping a tray of coffees from tipping over. “I brought you a coffee--mocha, soy, just the way you like it.” 

Altea looks slightly mollified as she plucks the coffee out of the tray. “Thank you, Lance, but next time, apologize by being on time,” she says dryly. “You’re on code team. Keith, take the trauma pager. Pidge, deliver the weekend lab results to their patients. Hunk, you’re on sutures.” She turns on her heels and starts to walk away. 

“Dr. Altea!” Lance says, stopping her in her tracks. “I was wondering if I could assist you in the OR today? I think I’m ready. You know, for a minor procedure or something like that.” 

“Hey! If he gets to cut, I want to cut, too!” Pidge says, elbowing Lance out of the way.

“Me too!” Keith interjects. 

Hunk gulps. “Yeah, I guess,” he adds lamely.

“Okay, stop.” Altea puts her hands on her hips, eyes blue steel. “Every intern wants a chance to perform their first surgery. But that’s not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make me happy. Do I look happy? No, because my interns aren’t doing the jobs I told them to do. Nobody gets to even touch a cadaver until I think you’re ready, understand?” 

“Yes ma’am,” the interns mumble collectively. 

“Now move!” Altea makes a shooing motion with her hands, and the interns scatter off to their various jobs. “Vrepit Sal’s Dead Baby Bike Race starts in six hours and I need my weekend labs run and my code team staffed!”

Shiro was idly tapping on his phone when he spots Keith pressing the button for the elevator. Pocketing his phone, he saunters as casually as he can until he’s within an arm’s length of Keith’s shoulder. “I didn’t know you rode a bike,” he says in Keith’s ear, trying for casual. 

“Doesn’t everyone?” Keith asks, not diverting his attention away from the ticker. 

“No, I mean, a motorbike--a motorcycle,” Shiro backtracks with an internal grimace. The elevator dings, signalling its arrival. Ah, saved by the bell, he thinks to himself. “I have one, too. Never expected Nevada to be such a good place to go for a late night ride.” 

Keith tries to suppress his smile as the elevator’s occupants file out. He and Shiro get on together and stand side by side as they wait for the doors to close. Shiro continues to ramble. “Now I have to like it here. I’m from Seattle. I’m not supposed to like how dry and deserted it is here. I have a thing for motorcycles,” he finishes lamely as the doors close and the serene elevator music starts up. 

“I’m not going out with you,” Keith says to break the monotony of the music.

“Did I ask you do go out with me?” Shiro mentally palms himself in the face. Yes you did, you idiot, he chastises himself. “Do you want to go out with me?”

“I’m not dating you,” Keith reiterates. “And I’m definitely not sleeping with you again. You’re my boss.” 

“I’m your boss’ boss,” Shiro corrects before he can help himself. Idiot! That makes nothing better, his inner monologue whacks him over the head. 

“Regardless, this is inappropriate,” Keith says firmly. “This is grounds for sexual harassment.”

 Shiro turns to face him. “I’m riding an elevator,” he says mildly. 

“Don’t come any closer,” Keith says, a flush riding high on his cheeks, clashing horribly with the orange scrubs. 

“Red’s a good closer on you,” Shiro says, and closes the gap between them, tangling one hand in Keith’s hair, dislodging the little pony tail, and wrapping the other around his waist. Keith flips their positions and pushes Shiro against the elevator wall, smashing his charts haphazardly between their chests as he fights to get closer to Shiro’s mouth. He reaches up to tug Shiro down by the back of his neck, biting gently on his bottom lip, gasping softly at the feel of the cool metal of the prosthetic sliding lower and playing with the waistband of his thin scrubs. 

Just as Shiro’s about to go for the full on ass grab, the elevator dings, and they hastily break apart, Keith’s files spilling onto the floor between the two of them. 

“Oh fuck,” Keith rasps, gathering up the files as quickly as he can and marching off to see his patients. Shiro’s gaze follows him, dazed and forlorn as nurses and other hospital staff file in, none the wiser.

Keith walks into a room filled with nurses and PAs rushing around, a hand absentmindedly on his bottom lip, mind a million floors away with Dr. Shirogane. 

“There you are!” A harried looking PA comes into his field of view. “We’ve got a rape victim. She came in with a GCS of six, BP eighty over sixty. Exam is significant for blunt head trauma, unequal breath sounds, right pupil is dilated. We think she ran right into the bike race,” he rattles off. “She’s ready for x-ray. You ready to roll?” 

Keith blankly surveys the room, taking in the blood on the body, the ruined shoes that haven’t yet been bagged, and--

“Hey!”

“Is that a penis?” Keith asks, peering into the kidney tray. It’s resting on ice, and definitely looking worse for wear. “Yeah/ Call ahead to CT. Let them know I’m coming. Load a portable monitor, and call Respiratory for a ventilator,” he orders, checking her eyes himself and her breathing tube. “I’ll do x-rays while I’m down there.”

The PA grunts in amusement. “Tough lady. Bit it right off. We found it in her mouth.”

“What a warrior,” Keith murmurs softly, checking her chart.

He takes responsibility over her and follows her from her scans into emergency surgery, where he and a couple of the less busy interns observe as Shirogane, Iverson, and Coran work to set her bones back in place and fix the internal bleeding. Shirogane lets out a low whistle as he works on setting her arm. “He really did a number on her. What is she? Five foot two, not even a hundred pounds?”

“Yeah, she’s going to spend a helluva time in recovery,” Coran says, jovial as always. “Really gave him a good walloping, though. Clearly a case of ‘You should see the other guy.’ I heard the rape kit came back negative.” 

“She bit his penis off,” Keith offers. “It was in a kidney dish when I went to go get her for scans.” 

The three attendings heads swivel to look at him, their hands never stopping their work. “What in tarnation?” Iverson says, incredulous. 

“Jesus,” Coran says. “Well, if she can fight off the infection, she can fight off anything.”

They start to close on the patient, and before Keith can slip out to round, he hears Iverson call his name. Or, more accurately, his “designated Intern number assigned by the one-and-only Coran.”

“Intern number 3!” Keith pauses. “I need you to stay with the penis until the police arrive. Chain of custody rules, and all,” he barks. 

Keith blanches. “Seriously?” he asks, looking at the small cooler they’d placed the severed body part in.

“That’s an order, intern!” Iverson says, pulling closed a stitch. Keith sighs and grabs the cooler before exiting. 

Over at the HUB, Pidge sorts through the labs while Lance toys with his pager and gloats about his assignment.

“Code team rocks,” he says with a smug grin. “One minute I get to shock a heart back to life, and the next minute I have my arms full of grateful daughters and sisters.”

Pidge stacks a lab report a little harder than necessary on top of her growing stack. “You know, I have an MD/PhD from Stanford, and I’m delivering patient labs. This is going to take me all day,” she says, annoyed.

Altea whisks by briskly. “Better get started then!” she says, sipping daintily at her mocha latte. “Lance, with me!” she says. “I need as many hands as I can find, and since you’re not doing anything, you’re going to help me wade through this disaster coming in.” Lance’s expression brightens and he hurries after her, pager beeping.

“Oh! Uh, I wasn’t complaining,” Pidge says weakly, grabbing her stack of labs and hurrying off. If she's fast enough, she decides, she might be able to put staples in someone’s wound.

Cooler in hand, Keith runs into the ER just in time to see multiple stretchers being brought in. “Keith!” Altea says. “Excellent timing! I need you to help Hunk with some suturing and debridement in beds four through 8! What is that?” she asks, pointing at the the cooler. 

“I’m babysitting a penis until the police get here,” Keith says, already moving towards bed four, where Hunk is dealing with a particularly rowdy bicyclist who didn’t seem particularly interested in staying for x-rays.

Along the way, he sees Shiro, sitting with his unconscious patient, flipping through her chart, though he chooses not to stop in favor of setting the cooler down and grabbing a suture kit. 

“Sir, I highly recommend that you stay for X-rays,” Hunk says, a firm hand on the bicyclist’s shoulder. 

“What? No! I need to get back to the race!”

“Sir, please,” Hunk says again. “You might have internal bleeding. I don’t feel comfortable taking those bike spokes out until you’ve had a thorough check up.”

His patient rolls his eyes. Then, he grits his teeth and, before Hunk and Keith can do any more than exclaim in alarm, grasps the bike spokes, pulling all four of them out with a grunt. “See?” he says, with a ta-dah wave of his hands. “No swooning, no fainting. I’m fine.”

Hunk shakes his head, holding a kidney tray for him to place the metal spikes. “Keith, this guy’s all yours. I’m going to move on to the next one.”

“Ah! Hunk!” Coran catches Hunk before he can check on the brain dead guy in bed 5. “Just the doctor I wanted to see! I’m going to be stuck in the OR all day today doing repairs, and I need someone I can rely on to check on my pre- and post-op patients. Can you do that for me?” 

“Uh, yes sir!” Hunk says.

“Oh, and one of them, Mr. Mackie, is a good friend of mine. Make sure you get him everything he needs.”

“Got it,” Hunk says, leaving Keith behind to deal with the victims of the race.

Keith sutures Impatient Biker Dude closed and is smoothing the bandage over the area when he opens his mouth to speak.

“Hey, you’ve got a really nice touch, and you are a rockin’ babe. Why don’t you let me take you out sometime?”

“Excuse me?” Keith raises an eyebrow but otherwise tries not to let his annoyance show and turns to grab his patient’s chart. “I don’t date my patients. If you insist on leaving, you’ll be doing so against the doctor’s orders, so you’ll have to sign this form saying that you understand the consequences.”

“Darling, I will do what ever you want,” he purrs, taking the form. “I have to get back to the race.”

“Look,” Keith tries again. “One CT scan. You’ll be in and out in thirty minutes.” 

“No can do, babe,” his patient says again, handing the form back. “I’ve got a race to finish.” He swings his legs over the side of the hospital bed and gets up. “There’s a party at the end, you know,” he says. “Maybe I’ll see you there?” 

Keith rolls his eyes and turns away, only to feel a hand grab him by the waist and spin him around. He feels his patient’s lips meet his and pull him into a deep lip lock, and he freezes, indignation bubbling up behind his rib cage. “What the fuck?” he demands once his patient lets him go. 

“One for luck,” he says with a jaunty wave and a wink. “You’ll be seeing me again soon.”

“For your sake, I hope you don’t!”

He whirls around, and accidentally makes eye contact with Shirogane, whose eyes look filled with hurt. Shiro gets up from his station near his comatose patient and intercepts Keith before he can get to Mr. Brain Dead in bed 5. With dismay, he watches as Lance and Altea start the next round of tests on him.

“What was that?” Shiro demands. “Are you kissing patients now?”

“For the record, he kissed me, and I definitely did not want to kiss that guy.” Keith tries to move onto bed 6, but Shiro blocks his way. “Oh come on! Dr. Shirogane, are you jealous? This is highly unprofessional.”

“I am not jealous!” The faint flush across the bridge of his nose bringing out his scar says otherwise. “Go out with me,” he says instead. 

“No! You’re my boss! It’s against the rules.” Keith signs off on the chart. “We had sex once and we made out in an elevator once. That’s not going to happen again.” Keith tries again to move to bed 6, wanting the conversation to end.

Lance and Altea are debating over what they should do with Brain Dead. 

“I think we should harvest his organs,” Altea says. 

“What?” Lance exclaims. “He has a family!”

“Great!” Altea says cheerily. “Find them, and get their consent.”

“What? No! Come on, he’s got six hours.”

“Okay, fine,” Altea says decisively. “We’ll let the family make the decision.”

Lance narrows his eyes. “You just want a harvest surgery.” 

“Don’t you?” Altea asks. 

“I--” Lance throws his hands up, conflicted.

“Dr. Shirogane!” Altea motions for Shiro to come take a look. 

“Just a minute!” he says normally, before lowering his voice again. “‘It’s against the rules?’ You don’t take me as a by-the-books kind of guy,” he says to Keith.

“Look, you’re an attending. I’m your intern. Unlike you, I still have something to prove. Now, I really need to get to Ms. Ho before she bleeds out.” Keith puts a hand on Shiro’s upper arm and pushes him towards Bed 5. “Go deal with Mr. Brain Dead.”

Pidge finishes with her lab deliveries just in time to watch as a car screeches into the front of the hospital, and a man stumble out of the driver’s side covered in blood from the waist down. She catches a nurse by the arm. “Get a stretcher--he’s hurt!” she orders, and motions two other nurses to come help her get him inside and onto the waiting stretcher. They get him hooked up to a heart rate monitor and a breathing tube before cutting him out of his clothes. “Oh my God!” she yelps, looking at the bloody mess of his groin. “Somebody call security!”

She ends up getting to observe the surgery that Iverson performs on the bloody John Doe. 

“Medicine’s a funny business,” he comments as he cauterizes a blood vessel. “One minute you get to save the life of someone who fought off an attack, and the next, you’re trying to save the life of the attacker. Intern, why aren’t we trying to reattached this penis?” he barks at Pidge.

“Teeth tear, but reattachments need clean cuts. If she’d taken a knife to his penis, he might still be able to save it, but since she bit it off, plus the digestive enzymes in the mouth, there’s no way he’s ever going to get to pee like a normal person again,” she says, trying to keep the smugness out of her voice.

“Hmm, a moment of silence for this poor guy,” Iverson says, rolling his eyes unsympathetically, cauterizing the final blood vessel. Pidge can’t help but agree. Good riddance. 

As Vrepit Sal’s Dead Baby Bike Race ends, so does the endless stream of injured bikers, and the interns finally get a chance to trudge wearily back to the locker rooms to freshen up and change into a fresh set of scrubs. 

“I need a bed,” Pidge moans, lying on a bench in the locker rooms wearing just her sports bra. “Or a drink and a massage. Or a drunken massage on a bed.” She sits up with groan and starts wrestling her scrub top back over her head.

“I lost five patients today on the code team,” Lance moans at his reflection. 

“Lance, ninety-five percent of code patients can’t be revived. They’re seriously dead before you even get there.” 

“What?” Lance exclaims. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Because,” Pidge says loftily. “I’m Pidge, and you’re Lance.”

Hunk trudges in, looking somewhat disgruntled. “Mr. Mackie won’t stop hitting on me, and I don’t know how to tell him I’m not interested. He’s Coran’s VIP, for crying out loud.” He sits down heavily next to Pidge. “At least we found a match for him.” 

“Oh yeah? Who?” Lance asks, splashing water onto his face.

“Oh, just some brain dead guy from earlier. When I told him, he cried and then tried to ask me out again.”

“Nice!” Lance gives Hunk a fist bump. “That was Allura and my’s first patient together!”

“Allura? Since when did she start letting you call her Allura?”

“Oh, she hasn’t. I just call her that in my head.”

“A patient kissed me today,” Keith announces, moodily playing with the handle of the cooler. “I wish I’d shown him the severed penis just to freak him out, but I didn’t think about that until it was too late. Plus, I don’t think it would have stopped him.”

Hunk makes a noise of sympathy. Lance, ever the incorrigible romantic, asks, “And what did Shiro think of that?” 

“He asked me out again.” 

Pidge groans. “Men,” she says. “They think they can just get away with anything.”

Lance, Hunk, and Keith all make indignant noises. 

“I got to watch Iverson cauterize the penis of a rapist today,” she continues as if they hadn’t said anything. “Simultaneously the best and the worst thing I’ve seen today, and I had to endure twenty-seven patients’ family members hug me with joy.” 

“Aw come on!” Lance interjects. “I should’ve gotten that job! I love hugs!”

“Does that mean I’m finally going to get to not babysit a penis anymore?” Keith asks, perking up at the thought. 

“Keith, it’s 2AM. They’re not sending someone over at 2AM.”

Keith drops his head into his hands and groans. “Fuck me,” he mutters.

“I mean, since you asked so nicely,” Lance starts. Pidge sticks her foot out and trips him.

“Thanks, Pidge.”

“Any time, bud.”

When Keith passes by the unconscious patient again in the morning, Shiro is still there and he looks like he hasn’t slept. He has, however, moved to the HUB, where he can simultaneously keep an eye on the patient and work on charting on the computer. Keith sets the penis cooler down on the counter. “Have you been here all night?”

“Yeah.” Shiro barely spares him a glance, and he rubs at the scar across the bridge of his nose. “You know, I grew in a family of all boys. All brothers. I can’t imagine what it’s like to not have anyone waiting for me when I wake up.”

“I can,” Keith says. Shiro looks up at him then, and stands to go make himself a cup of coffee, eyes soft.

“So,” he says, coming back with two paper cups of the hospital’s cheap free brew. “We’re kissing, but we’re not dating?”

Keith made a sound of annoyance. “I knew this would come up,” he says, accepting one of the cups.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like the kissing. More kissing, any day, I say,” Shiro says. 

Keith rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his coffee. “You sound like Coran,” he teases.

“I just want to know if this is going to happen again in the future. If it is, I’m gonna need to carry around breath mints. Maybe a,” Shiro lowers his voice, “condom in my wallet?”

“Shut up,” Keith whispers back, finishing off his coffee. Together, they stare at the patient in silence. All the monitors start beeping at once, and Keith and Shiro immediately move into action, calling for nurses and equipment.

“Prepare for an emergency craniotomy!” Shiro yells at a nearby nurse, who nods. Together, they mobilize the hospital bed into the OR, and Keith waits anxiously outside until Shiro’s done, looking more worn than ever. 

“We had to leave the top of her skull flap off,” he tells Keith. “Until the swelling in her brain goes down.”

Keith sighs. “She’s not going to make it is she?” he asks. 

“She’ll be fine,” Shiro replies, with a soft smile. “Come on. You have rounds. Don’t forget your penis.”

Keith sighs, shooting the cooler a look of distaste. “I just want the damn police to show up already,” he says in annoyance, heading back toward the HUB to catch up on some charting.

As soon as he reaches the HUB, however, a nurse motions him over. “The police have arrived to take custody of the evidence,” she tells him pointing over to where two uniformed men stand.

“Oh sweet! Thanks, Nyma,” he says, making his way over to the cops standing near the water cooler. “Hello sirs, I’m Dr. Kogane. I hear you’re here to collect my penis?”

The two cops look distinctly uncomfortable for a split second, before one of them notices the cooler in Keith’s hand. “Oh! Yeah, you just need to sign a couple of forms, and we’ll be out of your hair,” he says.

Keith gladly takes the paperwork and fills it out, handing both the forms and the cooler over to the cops. He runs into Pidge and Hunk halfway through rounds and they both give him high fives when they realize he’s no longer holding onto the penis cooler any more.

“Hey, so about those rooms,” Pidge says. “I’m in.”

“Yeah, me too,” Hunk adds. “I think I’m ready to give up my uncle’s couch.”

“Oh okay, cool,” Keith says. “I just need to get a few copies of my key made for you guys, and then you can move in whenever.” 

Pidge and Hunk cheer loudly and get shushed by Mrs. Cobb in bed 9.

[octaviainthewasteland]

Haribo Hearts

AO3

Summary: "Once we are born, we begin to forget The very reason we came But you I’m sure I’ve met Long before the night the stars went out We’re meeting up again"

Rating: Teen and Up

Artist’s work: by amazing @zoemaru boop

Beta: BIG THANKS TO @sondeneige for being patient with my sorry ass and making this work much easier to read.

Thanks to @pidgebigbang for organizing the event!!!

I.

“But you can love other people, right?”

Mum falters, and together over her and the dough, which she has stopped kneading, settles an odd silence. Like when someone asks for a question to be repeated, as if they have not heard it, but they definitely have, they are just trying to buy time to put the social puzzle together, to understand if it is a trick or a genuine question, because, really, who asks that kind of question anyway?

“Of course,” she says eventually, pinching Katie’s cheek and leaving sticky fingerprints, “I love you, for one. And Matt.”

Katie frowns and wipes her cheek with sudden ferocity.

“You know what I mean. Of course…”

Of course you love us. We are your children.

Of course you love dad. He is your soulmate.

The pie ends up mediocre, but after all, mum has never claimed to be a perfect housewife. Katie’s parents met in the office. Two kids, a dog, guests sometimes on Fridays and a few journalists here and there. They are a normal middle-class family, a specimen of the intellectual elite. They have never been stopped in the middle of a street for an autograph, but the wall of the staircase is covered in photos from school science fairs. In these photos, Sam Holt is always surrounded by excited kids with their volcanoes and planes and other projects.

Katie glares at these photos, munching on a piece of the pie, which has been highly praised by dad and has always been completely tasteless. There is no point in lowering her eyes to her shoulder, the lines are not visible. Not yet, only under the bright light and only if she squints, she can make out some general figures – but she can feel a little swelling under the tips of her fingers. First there was just an itchy patch of skin, and now this. Her mark is beginning to appear, right when dad and Matt have begun to get ready for their Kerberos expedition, and they are going without her, and it means that she would have to apply to the Garrison in their absence. Her application is going to be successful, no doubt, how can they reject one of the Holts?

Before, she used to love the idea of being accepted to the Garrison, but when all the action happens somewhere else, and she will be stuck in the dusty classrooms, behind a tiny desk.While dad and Matt will be exploring the universe and will be the first people to go so deep in space?

And now, of all times, she is reminded about all that soulmate crap. Someone’s writing, someone’s name on her, like a stamp, an official sign that now she belongs to someone else. No funny story at the table in fifty years: “Oh, I met your grandpa by accident…” Because everything is set. She knows. They know. Everybody knows.

To be fair, it is not like she has her doubts about her parents loving each other. Nonetheless, isn’t it so cruelly ironic? So many movies and books, plots and stories about a person, who is about to get married but meets their soulmate and it changes their whole life? They’re unable to resist, and is it realistically possible to resist, and if it is, why doesn’t anybody resist?

It may be another way for Mother Nature to ensure the procreation of humanity. But what about people who cannot biologically or psychologically or plainly do not wish to procreate? To begin with, there would not be any same-sex soulmates, then. They have been taught in history about the LGBT movement, and one of their mottos has been: “The Universe is never wrong”.

The Universe is never wrong.

Katie shakes off the crumbs and leans on the banister, listening to soft voices of her parents in the living room. So what would Descartes think about all this? Did he have a soulmate?

Cogito ergo sum. I think, therefore I am. Without doubting there is no existing. Then how can they study the theory of knowledge and that blind faith in the authority is dangerous, and then just accept something so unexplainable? Some time ago people believed the Earth was flat, and they imprisoned Galileo because he doubted that. If now they know that they can be wrong about something as big as the Earth, how can they not doubt ‘the universe’s choice’?

Katie does not believe in God, and refuses to abide by a random choice.

The invisible mark on her skin is itching.

*

“We’re so sorry.”

“My condolences.”

“Katie, tears are normal. It’s okay to be sad.”

But the thing is, she is not sad. She is angry. She swallows hot tears, peeved by her own powerlessness, with mum’s apathy, with Iverson’s annoyed expression that morphs into pity, with the guard’s indifference, when they drag her out. Let them not even hope she would comply. That she would surrender, she twists and turns like a crazy cat. She scratches and bites them, tries to kick or head butt anyone at arm’s length, and she screams, screams, screams – cadets, who pass by, look at her, immediately recognizing the Holts’ girl.

“Poor thing.”

“What a nightmare.”

Sympathetic faces are fusing into a whirlpool, and it makes her sick, and she throws up in the ‘ladies room’, her whole body shuddering. Sobs become coughs, then slowly turn into frantic hiccups, and it is all lies that it gets better. It doesn’t. Not a bit. Just worse. Because the Kerberos accident has already become yesterday’s news, and they “have to move forward”. Because they never told them the truth, thinking that some quick excuses would ever be enough to bury two empty coffins, so they would stop asking and simply give up. The flowers at the little memorial have not withered yet, and already everyone seems to have forgotten about Sam and Matt Holt. And Shiro. He hasn’t even got a coffin, as he had wanted to be cremated, for his ashes to be scattered from as high as a bird flies. He has even chosen a pilot to perform that. Yet there is nothing to scatter.

She grits her teeth. Not yet. No coffins and no ashes yet. Even if everyone gives up, even if nobody else in the whole world gives a shit about them – she will not forget, she will find them and bring them back. Everyone knows the Holts’ girl, but no one knows a Gunderson’s boy.

It gives her its own twisted glee. She has never been considered pretty, not that it ever bothered her. Her palms are too big, her knees knobby, frog-like eyes and of course her bushy eyebrows, wide and expressive. Everyone has agreed, though, that her hair was nice. Long and wavy, only if difficult to tame into a plait. Gnawing her lip, she butchers her long hair, she relished the thought that this ‘Lance’ would never meet Katie Holt, and Pidge Gunderson is nobody’s soulmate.

She should have known better.

The boy is all legs and arms, all jumpy and jerky, like a grasshopper. His friend lifts his arms helplessly, mouthing a silent sorry. Pidge is still shaken by the fact that Iverson let her be – or not her, but a ‘distant cousin’ of Matt’s, a live copy of a diseased boy, so Iverson doesn’t look too closely, averts his eye to avoid the eye contact for longer than two seconds, he’s “yes yes, cadet, try your best” and Pidge would never give him a reason to look at ‘him’ more closely. So she misses the moment, when the boy’s arms snakes around her shoulder, and she is struck by an electric bolt, she is suffocating and feverish, and before the boy opens his mouth to introduce himself, Pidge already knows his name.

Lance.

*

She never says it out loud, but she kind of envies the rest of the team.

Pidge realizes that while scrubbing the sink in the kitchen. Thanks to her allergy, she is relieved of the dusting duty, because instead of cleaning the table in the common room. Lance started doodling on it, and when she pointed out that he has the worst case of the chicken scratch, he kept poking her nose, which ended up in an endless series of deafening sneezes.

It has been hardly a doodle, to be honest, more like a wiggly writing, a name, repeated all over.

Katie Holt, Katie Holt, Katie Holt, Katie Holt, Katie Holt – Keith destroys that obsessive scribbling with one wipe, and Lance attacks him of course, because apparently, his mark isn’t quite normal, just a single letter ‘S’, and obviously, he must be super mega jealous of Lance’s amazing soul mate. Hunk grunts disapprovingly, because he has nothing at all, and Lance is quick to apologize for his inattentive words, but still reaches out to smack Keith. Hunk doesn’t hold it against him, because Lance shoots words like he shoots a rifle – carelessly but dead on target – but Hunk is used to it. He is a little bit concerned about not having a mark, but if you have priorities and if you’re not Lance, you realize there’s not much time for romance and soulmates with all the training and the whole universe under oppression from an advanced alien race of violet lizard cats.

So, Keith has a wriggle of a letter for a soulmark, Hunk has none at all and Shiro has lost his mark with his right arm. Not forgetting to mention that soulmates as a concept is unknown to Alteans in general.

When asked, Pidge lies and says that she does not have one either.

“Maybe your soulmate isn’t born or hasn’t hit puberty yet,” Shiro tries to console her. “Mine appeared quite late. I was already thinking I got none at all.”

“Meet me and my sugar baby in thirty years,” Pidge mumbles in reply.

Not that they talk about it often or something – unless you’re Lance, of course – it just pops up now and then, especially when Allura and Coran notice the marks on the actors during the movie night. Coran thinks it’s wonderfully romantic.

More like a premise for groundbreaking disappointment, if you ask Pidge, as she moves on to polish the tap. Lance seems enamored with this imaginary ‘Katie Holt’, he flirts and falls in love with every skirt, because she’s a reflection of his little dream. Because he’s so full of love for the One and Only that he just can’t hold it anymore and the love spills over the edges and covers everyone around. It’s a little bit disturbing. It’s a little bit scary.

Because sooner or later Lance will find out that his sweetheart ‘Katie Holt’ is just scrawny Pidge, who is always sweaty and has moons of dirt under her nails.

Which yet again proves that this whole soulmate thing is crap, because they haven’t suddenly fallen madly in love at first sight. Maybe it has some activation code? Like your soulmate has to address you by the name that is on their soulmark or touch it or something? Does that mean that soulmarks mean nothing for mute people or someone in a situation like Shiro? Figures why he’s so unbothered by the whole ‘lost my soulmark in space’ issue.

After ten thousands years of slumber, the castle has stood up quite well, and yet it still resembles most of all a haunted house. Dust and alien spider webs everywhere, the windows have grown turbid. The exterior of the castle is covered by plates that resemble their solar panels, so there has been enough energy to preserve Allura and Coran’s bodies and coordinate cleaning bots, but many of them got broken or lost throughout the time. The energy also supplied the defense system, so nobody could break in, but at the same time nobody has aired the place for ten thousand years, and the air conditioning system has been defeated by time and lack of sentient presence.

There seemed to always be a distinct odor in corridors and they even spotted some mold. Usually (always) it’s the cleaning bots’ job, but blabbing something about discipline and necessity of chores for self-organization, Shiro has coerced them into helping out. More likely he couldn’t sleep at night so he busied himself with something while they stayed on Arus. It would be foolish to jump right into the action, while nobody had any idea what has been going on in the Universe for the past thousand years and paladins still didn’t have any sort of training with the Lions. Thus, they have stayed for a while to prepare and catch up.

Pidge wonders who used to sleep in her room and she is grateful that the cleaning bots have removed previous owner’s belongings before she moved in. The paladin uniform has no size, but she had to adjust the seat in the Green Lion. She can’t help but wonder what life had been like then. Allura and Coran do not let too much out, and all the documents are in Altean – they understand each other because of the universal translators, but in order to read stuff, she has to be better than the intermediate level she can read at now.

They have watched a couple of classic Altean movies, too, during the movie nights. Pidge tries to watch them in the evenings, with subtitles rather than translation. Altean language is unlike any language on Earth (not that she personally speaks many, but she’s not a brat who resorts to generalizing, she checked it against any known languages in the system.) It’s difficult to distinguish separate words, as their speech is melodious and mostly consists of vowels. Although Lance’s vocabulary is built on the derivatives of ‘quiznak’, he often joins her. Hunk is busy learning how to pilot with Shiro and after a unanimous vote, he is not allowed to culturally exchange with Coran. However, it has been too little, too late, the damage has already been done. Now they are running laps and exercising to BTS and Girls’ Generation, transmitted throughout the whole castle

*

There are certain things that will most surely turn you listless, that will rob you of any energy and make something as essential and undemanding as a trip to the restroom into a challenge. One of those things is Coran’s enthusiastic account of the adventures of his youth. While the components of these anecdotes individually are unbelievable and would suffice for a next generation of Hollywood movies, and Coran’s manner of speaking is quite engaging, he has a habit of focusing on wrong details, the aspects of these stories that are the complete opposite of cool.

Another one will be writing reports. No explanation necessary. Everyone hates writing reports.

For Pidge, the third one is summer. There was no school in summer and yes, she didn’t like school that much, but sometimes it was nice. Summer was never nice. She knew that her classmates went someplace together or at least keeping contact, FaceTiming, Snapchatting, WhatsApping or otherwise osculating each other through social media. No one has ever sent her a message to ask how her summer was going. She didn’t bother, because she had Matt. He’s never been really popular either.

But then he left for Garrison, where population of nerds is three to one. “Don’t call them nerds,” – often said Dad, - “call them people of extreme passions”. Yeah, for example, he and Matt, who seemed to have an extreme passion for this Shiro guy. Shiro was a special kind of nerd, like the mastermind of espionage who managed to blend into the crowd of jocks, but a nerd nonetheless. He could not tell Nitrogen from Sodium (he still tried to drop cringy jokes: are you made of Copper and Tellurium?) but he could draw the star map with his eyes closed and all while piloting a can without an engine through a meteor shower.

Shiro would sometimes come around, but more often than not he would snatch Matt away somewhere, because apparently there was a Buttercup to their Bubbles and Blossom, who resided closer to the Garrison than here. They invited her along, but she didn’t want to be a deadweight, so she refused, reduced to a sulking amoeba at her desk, melting under the July sun, too lazy to open a book or even lift her eyelids, but too hot to have anything more substantial than constant drowsiness.

So one cannot overstate the extent of willpower it requires keeping concentration, while being stuck writing a report under Coran’s guidance, while being horribly sunburnt. Pidge peels off a little piece of dead skin from her nose and sighs. Thanks to conditioning systems, it was nicely cool inside the castle, but she can’t appreciate it, because she’s already a boiled crab and she’s not in the castle, she is in a tent with almost transparent walls. Objectively guys have it worse, because they’re currently digging wells for a nation of desert dwellers, but Pidge is not a very sympathetic person, especially while impersonating Freddie Krueger. Coran remains to look fresh and chirpy, which is beyond annoying.

The planet of eternal July, wonderful. Pidge can’t wait to return to the cold abyss of outer space.

Had they been more careful, the robeast wouldn’t have destroyed the reservoir, the only reservoir for miles and miles of dust and soil so dry it cracks. It is their responsibility (plus there’s a high probability they’re the only ones capable) to build a new system of water supply.

And so they have stayed for a little longer. First day they have worked with Lions, but it proved that the soil was too crumbly and needed a careful approach. They resolved to good old digging and sometimes applying bayards, namely Hunk’s cannon or Lance’s blaster. It was time-consuming, tiring and seemingly unsuccessful – although Allura assured them that they would soon reach underground waters. Pidge got her free pass, when she got sunburned even through damp clothes. Others had to continue.

That’s the kind of work they do everywhere. In Allura’s words: not only fighting, but also rebuilding. Pidge hates all this physical work, but she can’t deny it has its own merits, when they make living a little bit easier for someone. She tries to keep a journal of all the different races and cultures they come across, but there’re so many. Could she have imagined that back in her room, paralyzed with boredom? She has always had a vivid imagination, but she couldn’t process that Earth, a whole separate world, a multitude of languages, practices and traditions, different people and countries – always has been a speck of the cosmos, with histories much bigger and older than her.

So far none of the alien had an idea even remotely similar to soulmates. It puts a whole discourse of soulmates into a new perspective. It puts a whole discourse on the existence of God into a new perspective. They have seen aliens larger than life: ancient, powerful, terrifying – totally godlike. Woods of Olkarion, Balmera, Ziggurat and many more. Meeting such entities is a lot like having a religious experience.

The further from Earth, the more Pidge rethinks her own views and in fact she finds herself leaning towards agnosticism rather than atheism.

Coran stops short of the climax of a recount of his days with fashion pirates (for the seventh time), when the drapes are drawn for a mere moment, and they are hit with a strong wave of dry air, devoid of anything but sand. Guys crawl inside and drop dead on thin cushions. Coran goes around, literally nursing them from a little clayey cup. After a while, one of them jiggles like a worm, refusing to get up and walk like a human being, and gets closer to Pidge.

It’s Lance, obviously. He uncovers his face, blinding her with a grin.

She should comment on him reeking of sweat and how funny he looks in a turban made of wet cloths. The truth is, she must look as ridiculous as he. More ridiculous, because despite turban and Halloween mummy inspired costume, he still manages to look… nice.

Lance reaches out to flick her nose, but stops at the last second and chucked with affinity.

“Wanna check something out? We’ll need to take the Lions, though.” “What? Now?” she tries to say that without moving any muscles. “Yep.”

She means to say no, but shrugs and nods instead. With a sudden burst of renewed power, Lance jumps up and drinks some more water, eager to take off right away.

“What about others?” she finally croaks. “Hunk?” Lance pokes him. “No, thanks,” mumbles back the pile of clothes. “Shiro?” “No.” “Coran?” “Thank you, but I must decline.” “See? They’re quitters. Sad and bitter.”

With a raised eyebrow, Pidge turns to Keith, but before even asking she realizes he’s definitely not interested.

Maybe it’s a smart move, she considers, while entering the world of heat and sand again. They take Blue, because Green channels Pidge’s mood about moving in such weather, and Blue carries them towards the horizon, rigged with steep mountain peaks.

This planet has its own sun, larger than the Earth’s one, like a ball of blazing whiteness. She doesn’t rotate, which means there’s no night and day, and the other side of the planet is nothing more than frozen wastelands. Tribes’ greatest punishment is being stranded on the borders of the eternal night. Throughout the whole known history of several millenniums, there are only six known cases of such sentences. There is also a myth of a lost tribe, though. At the beginning of civilization, there had been Thirteen Tribes, but after the Great War, one of them had been banished forever. However, the Thirteenth Tribe survived, tamed the night and prepared to return one day and get their revenge. Voltron has scanned the surface of the planet while passing and they haven’t noticed any life forms on the icy half, but who knows? Maybe they’re good at hiding. Maybe they’ve gone underground. Maybe they’re ice zombies. Game of Thrones might be onto something.

There is some irony in the fact that one part of the planet suffers from water shortage, while the other is basically covered with water. In times of the greatest needs, there were many expeditions to bring the ice, but only few returned. Not only there is a drastic gap in the temperatures, the only way is through a mountain chain. Being better equipped, Voltron has brought large chunks of ice, but people really need those wells.

Blue gracefully lands on a secret plateau, and Lance commands Pidge to put on the paladin suit. They leave the armor, content with the layered black jumpsuit.

When they exit Blue, Pidge is about to ask what’s it all about, but swallows the question.

The high sky is heavy with reds and orange and smudges of yellow, blues and purples – it looks like a mindless watercolor practice, it looks like nothing she has seen before. They have passed it on their way and she hasn’t even paid attention. It’s not visible from far above.

“One side is eternal day, another is eternal night, and in the middle…”

In the middle is the eternal sunset. Sunrise. Neither and both.

Lance looks smug and rests his elbow on her shoulder. The soulmark pulsates, and she’s afraid for a moment, that he will feel it even through the clothes, but Lance remains oblivious. The cool air gently touches her hurt face and eases the pain.

For once in a while, Pidge doesn’t think anything. She just stands on the edge of a plateau and enjoys the sunset. Or sunrise.

Neither.

Both.

[odanurr87]

Watching Voltron Season 7

This summarizes my feelings on the season quite nicely.

I’m trying something different this time around. Instead of reviewing the season as a whole -something I might do later anyway- I decided to provide written commentary on each and every episode as I watched it. The quality of the comments will vary and you probably shouldn’t take them all too seriously (especially if you really liked this season). If it looks like I’m giving Season 7 a hard time, it’s probably because I am, but know it comes from a place of love (maybe). Having said that, I have to warn you that: a) I’ve not provided context for all of my comments, you’ll just have to figure out what I’m talking about at times (fairly easy, particularly if you’re watching the episode at the same time); and b) there are lots and lots of spoilers!

So, sit back, relax, and let’s watch Season 7 of Voltron: Legendary Defender, shall we?

Episode 1: A Little Adventure

Keith and Shiro’s story should’ve been shown earlier than S7. It might’ve helped me like Keith a little more. It’s a great flashback, but it feels a little rushed.

The humor is not really funny and it doesn’t gel well with the more solemn story of Shiro lying in a coma fighting for his life.

Pidge decides to check his comms at a completely random moment.

Okay, the “literal bait” bit was funny.

Episode 2: The Road Home

They let Lance decide passenger arrangements?

Mice-selfies!

The passsenger arrangements was a funny bit. Thankfully, it didn’t overstay its welcome.

Did everyone have to explore the Blade facility? Nobody thought of staying with the lions just in case?

“We’re under attack.” Read above.

The wolf is deciding the arrangements now. I’m okay with that.

You can’t defeat a few fighters without forming Voltron? Wouldn’t that be more energy-taxing than firing lasers?

“We run.” Why didn’t you do that in the first place?!

Hunk. My man!

Episode 3: The Way Forward

Why are we back to goofy Lance?

“We’re destined for greatness.” Yeah, right. Wouldn’t be surprised if one of you kicks the bucket before the end of the episode.

Baddie is terrible at interrogation. Your prisoners have just answered your question.

Coran’s antics are not funny.

Bayards can teleport, huh? Would’ve been nice to use that trick in the cell.

Yup, they’re dead.

Eh, three-year time lapse. No biggie.

Episode 4: The Feud!

This isn’t funny or interesting, just boring. Sorry, I’m skipping this one.

Okay, that closing music is the best thing of this episode. Of course, bear in mind I skipped to the ending.

Episode 5: The Ruins

Seinfeld? Why are we wasting time like this?

Remember what happened the last time we deviated from our voyage?

Hunk gets it.

Yes, abandon the lions… again.

That reveal was way too fast. The guy’s story was more interesting than this.

Isn’t Lance supposed to have a broadsword?

So you had the Voltron team escape the force field so they’d be incapacitated by Macidus... again. What was the point?

I was kinda hoping Keith would say, “It’s okay, I’m used to it.”

Episode 6: The Journey Within

I’m still not sure how going to Earth is gonna help them replace the Castle of Lions.

Their Paladin armour protected them but the lions are frozen? I’m thinking too much.

Hunk’s already softening the blow for the Paladins getting replaced?

Well, this is riveting stuff. And I’d still have this episode over all the previous ones.

I doubt people would react this way but who knows. Keith is back to being an asshole. Just as I was warming up to him.

Well, I guess we couldn’t have an episode without something trying to kill the Paladins.

That speech feels a little out of place now, Keith. Just a tiny bit.

Guess they have energy now?

New configuration. I dig it.

And about damn time too.

I was expecting more from an episode with this title.

Episodes 7 & 8: The Last Stand, Parts 1 & 2

Okay, I may be nitpicking, but couldn’t we have left the flashback for the reunion?

Sanda seems reasonable, for now anyway.

This episode is picking up the slack from the previous ones. Nice.

It surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together.

Okay, if I were a guy at this briefing, I’d have a hard time believing any of this.

I see good points on both sides here. Compromise: why not inform a few governments and start from there, similarly to what they did on Stargate SG-1. Broadcasting this to the whole wide world without a plan seems terribly irresponsible.

Voltron’s own Area 51. Cool!

Are these guys going to be the new Paladins? I sure hope not.

In all this time you didn’t even contact a single government? Are there even governments in this world? It’s not about emotion, it’s about resources, dammit!

If getting kicked out of the garrison was your biggest concern, I say go for it.

“The cat’s out of the bag now.” My thoughts exactly.

Whoa, I guess it’s true what they say, everyone wants to rule the world.

I’m pretty sure what you wanted to say was that there are mass riots and widespread panic out there, right?

I’m sure glad everyone else in the world has that nice and shiny particle barrier.

Oops, guess they didn’t.

Why the f*** is Sanda so stubborn?! We tried it your way and everyone died. Surely we can’t do any worse than that?

Every other place that didn’t have your shiny new tech got wasted, no kidding.

Sam really wants to rule the world, doesn’t he?

Yes, he does, he’s just gonna wait for the lions to show up. Doesn’t take a genius.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but, so far, the best episode of this season hasn’t featured the Paladins or Voltron.

Meet Veronica, the new Black Paladin.

Why reveal your presence like that?

Query. They designed weapons that are effective against Galra ships but not against Galra troops? Seems like an oversight.

Don’t worry, they’re not about to kill a badass character off like that.

Told you so.

Okay, I’m slightly more willing to read about what happened on Earth while the Paladins were away in comic book form. Slightly.

Oh, Lance’s sister. Hot.

I’m not sure that… Well, what do you know, it worked.

The next episode, Keith, the next episode.

Episode 9: Know Your Enemy

How exactly are you blocking- You know what? Forget it.

And that’s how the Paladins were killed! Kidding.

Introducing New Keith 1.0.

That door seems like a weak point.

Confirmed: Pidge can fly.

New Keith 1.0 is jealous of Keith 2.0. The plot thickens.

I had completely forgotten about Adam. Way to go killing him off like that. Couldn’t you have featured him in a couple more episodes at least? As it stands, he was entirely superfluous.

New Keith 1.0 is even more of an asshole than Keith 1.0. Someone punch him for me, please.

Sanda has been unusually quiet. I don’t like that.

Space Battleship Yama- I mean, Atlas!

Seriously, handing over the lions at this point would be dumb beyond measure. It merely leaves you at the mercy of the Galra who’ll backstab you at the earliest opportunity. Why are we even discussing this? Are we really going to make Sanda a baddie now?

“We need intelligence and we just don’t have it.” She’s absolutely right, just not in the way she thinks.

What was that? New Keith 1.0 went from being a jerk to a more or less decent guy in less than an episode? What’s going on here?

Hunk couldn’t rescue his parents. I’m surprised this show was that bold.

Episode 10: Heart of the Lion

I don’t understand any of what just went down. So an Earth power source makes an Earth prosthetic go berserk but an Altean one won’t? Are there evil power sources in this universe now?

Also, that arm’s missing a half. Just saying.

Admiral Sanda’s back to her senses. Good.

Yes, call your brother an idiot for showing concern. That’ll show him!

A tiny nitpick: why not use the wolf to teleport around?

Confirmed: New Keith 1.0 is no longer a jerk.

Teamwork!

Allurance moment. I ship it.

That scene with Pidge and Keith.

Zai-what?

Damn, Sanda’s all about the problems, isn’t she? How about a solution every once in a while?

How did they do that again?

It’s a bit of a gamble but it’s better than sitting around and doing nothing.

That Tenzin moment!

Lance 1.0 would’ve boasted about it. Just saying.

Um, why is Red not responding?

Great visuals, great music, great scene.

Drama! To be continued… or maybe not.

Those troops are terrible shots.

Cut it with your sword, cut it with your sword!

Or that works too. Were we holding back Red just for the sake of drama?

That was… awfully fast of the Galra.

Oh, no, don’t you tell me that... For f***’s sake, that was idiotic! You’re helping the guy who has built planet killers instead of the people trying to take them down?!

No formation sequence and music? This doesn’t bode well.

Can energy beams be bended like- Ah, forget it.

Personally, I would’ve cut off the episode at the blast, maybe even the season. Kills all suspense otherwise.

Episode 11: Trial by Fire

This marks the second time the lions get captured this season.

“We made a deal!” Famous last words. My eyes are rolling.

The bad guys are leaving. I wonder why? #sarcasm

The main villain lied to you? No way! This must be a mistake! Also #sarcasm

To kill everyone I presume.

Bingo.

We only now remember we have a crystal than can act as a power source?

Magic.

Um, why is everyone looking at Shiro like that? Just roll with it.

Now, if the Atlas were destroyed right now, that would be funny! I have a wicked sense of humor.

“Take them out.” A little late for that.

Ah, the redeeming arc begins! I foresee someone dying.

The ship “gained abilities”? I’m just gonna say it: magic.

Just kill her. I mean, she’s gonna die anyway. It’s that kind of arc.

Told you so.

Episodes 12 & 13: Lions’ Pride, Parts 1 & 2

Voltron formation music is back but with less punch.

Voltron’s finally kicking ass!

Why are we surprised that Sendak is going to destroy Earth?

I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s a (relatively) stationary cannon, and they probably don’t have enough mirrors up in space to track all of Voltron’s movements. Voltron shouldn’t have any problem dodging those blasts.

So Sendak’s willing to destroy his own ships to get Voltron? I’m game! Let’s rush from cruiser to cruiser! At least they’ll provide temporary cover.

They’re letting the Paladins move around the mirrors untouched?

Why not reflect the beams back at the cannons? Just a thought.

“Commander, they’re deflecting the beams.” Um, send someone to take the lions out? It’s not like you’re short on ships.

Why not simply blow up the crystal? You did bring explosives with you, didn’t you?

“Victory or death.” Why not simply transfer command to another ship?

I’m just going to pretend I didn’t see you on the hull of that ship, Shiro.

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!

That was a surprisingly smooth landing, all things considered.

Death it is.

Another Allurance moment.

Okay, why is this Part 1 again? Looks like everything was rounded up nicely.

Looks like I spoke too soon.

You’re overdoing it.

Ah, for the love of... Another mega-robot?!

I’m with Allura, this season should’ve ended in the previous episode or at episode 10.

I don’t know what the Komar is. I skimmed through previous seasons.

What happened to “we can recharge Voltron ourselves”?

Really? Somehow this robot is more powerful than anything we’ve ever seen? My eyes are rolling again.

Magic returns to save the day.

You’ve got to be kidding me, you built a ship that can somehow turn into a giant robot and you didn’t know?!

Okay, no, stop, this is beyond ridiculous now.

Weren’t there civilians around?

I seem to recall saying you were overdoing it. We’re way past that point now.

Why not return to Earth as soon as you’ve pushed that thing into space? I forgot, drama.

If they die, I’ll take everything back.

Lions still there so they didn’t.

Nice speech. Not feeling it though.

I’m saying it right now, Season 8 should jump forward in time several years.

Acxa! I had forgotten all about you. Seriously, when did we drop you?

Lotor’s been a very naughty boy. So much for time skip. It really was the way to go after this season.

[melodramatic3rdwheel]

One Awful Voltron Library AU

Chapter One: In Which Everything Is Just Set Up

“I honestly don’t get why we have to do this,” Keith crossed his arms and sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair directly across from Shiro. “I already spend all of my free time here and you said that you would just give me the job if it would make me shut up about not having any cash.”

Shiro gave an annoyed sigh, having answered this question a thousand times before. “It’s a formality, Keith, just like it has been for the last hundred times you asked.”

“Can we get on with this ‘formality’ then?”

They made their way through the routine questions of any basic part-time job interview. Most of Keith’s answers were sarcastic. He was sure he would get the job, he was the only candidate and his brother was the one hiring him.

Shiro was the manager of the Altea Library, he made all the decisions on who got hired and who didn’t. Since everyone that worked there was all the original staff like Shiro, and they just now decided they needed another shelver, Shiro made the kind decision to extend a job offer to Keith. Shiro was so sick of Keith’s whining about not having any money that he did something he rarely ever did, he gave Keith a free pass. Sure it was a cruddy job at a dinky library full of dusty old books, but it got Keith glorious, glorious minimum wage. It also got Shiro the notion of Keith not borrowing money every time he wanted a soda and never paying him back. Keith owed Shiro almost two hundred dollars, so really, it got Shiro minimum wage.

“Well congratulations, Keith, you got the job, welcome to the team.” Shiro extended his arm for a handshake, still playing at this actually being legit in anyway.

“What a surprise.” Keith took his hand and shook it. He was grateful, so he humored Shiro. “When do I start?”

“Now, obviously”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance and Hunk leaned over Pidge’s shoulders and peered at her monitor, which was tapped into the security feed of Shiro’s office. The security cameras were almost never used for anything other than Pidge nosing around in other people's’ business, and even less often were the ones in Shiro’s office used, especially if Allura was there.

“That’s him! I’m sure of it!” Lance pointed at the screen, the tip of his finger just barely touching it. He really didn’t have to point Hunk and Pidge knew who he was talking about.

“Fingers. Off. The. Fucking. Screen.” Pidge smacked his hand away.

“Yeah, sorry.” Now normally Lance would have put his entire hand on the screen, but rule number one of working at the library was don’t fuck with Pidge. Nobody spoke of the last guy who broke rule number one.

“Are you sure Lance? The video’s pretty grainy. They don’t really look related anyway.” Hunk said. They all knew that Shiro’s brother would be interviewed that day. They didn’t know that he was going to get the job no matter what.

“I’d recognize that mullet anywhere.” Shiro and Keith went through the interview.

“That Keith guy seems really disinterested in this. There’s no way he’s getting the job.” Hunk said, now sitting on the floor. He was the only one watching the video feed at this point. Pidge was doing some homework and Lance was painting his nails a nice turquoise blue.

“No way, seriously?”

“What’s up bro?” Lance asked, not even looking up.

“He got the job. And they’re leaving the office right now, so you should probably get to the counter.”

“Ah shit.” Lance got up and didn’t even bother to close the nail polish bottle.

“You’re gonna stink up my room with this shit!” Pidge yelled. She closed her math book and got up. “Nepotism at its finest, Hunk. Now get out.” Hunk grabbed the nail polish Lance abandoned and left Pidge’s office.

“So, looking forward to having a new shelving buddy since I upgraded to Master of All Things that Need Fixing?” Hunk gently placed the nail polish next to Lance and leaned on the counter.

“Was until I found out who it was going to be.”

“It can’t be that bad. I mean-”

“And this is the Main Floor.” Shiro walked in, Keith in tow.

“I know where all this stuff is already.” Keith grumbled.

“I know, I was just looking forward to the tour. But…. you don’t know your co-workers!” Shiro turned to Lance’s counter and led Keith over. “Keith, this is Hunk, he’s the maintenance guy.”

“Hey Keith, nice to meet you. And I prefer Master of All Things that Need Fixing, thanks.”

“In that back room is Pidge, you’ll meet her eventually. Probably.”

“HI OR WHATEVER” Pidge yelled from the other room.

“And this is Lance, he’ll tell you what to do. You know, if he would stop painting his nails when he’s supposed to be watching the counter and thinks I won’t notice. That’s a nice color by the way.”

“No one was here. And we’ve already met.”

“We have?” Keith looked Lance up and down, then focused on his face. “When?”

Lance stood up straighter and hopped over the counter. “Uh, we were rivals all through Freshman year? We were competing for top of the class? Lance and Keith? Keith and Lance?”

Keith gave Lance a blank stare. He had no idea what Lance was talking about.

Shiro broke the silence after a few seconds, “Well, I have paperwork to do, Lance, show Keith what he’ll have to do.” He then turned on his heel and left back down into the basement where his office was.

“Didn’t realize Allura had her name changed.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lance was miffed that Keith didn’t remember him. HIM. Lance thought they had a mutual understanding of their rivalry, but apparently not. Apparently Keith was oblivious to not only their rivalry, but Lance’s existence.

“So are you going to tell me what to do or…?” Keith trailed off expecting Lance to do something. His glowering was starting to get awkward.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.” Lance’s words were short. He already didn’t like the idea of working with Keith, but now it was worse. He walked three paces ahead of Keith, eager to be done. “So you shelve books when you get here, then one of us will man the counter while the other continues to keep everything orderly. You can do the counter. I hate standing around with nothing to do. You already know the layout of this place, so I’m not going to show you around. Any questions?”

“Yeah, mainly, how do you work anything?” Keith was getting annoyed. He didn’t know who the guy was. He sort of recognized him from his math class in Freshman year? He certainly didn’t remember ever talking to him. But this guy was getting all mad, taking it personally. “And also why do you hate me?”

Lance walked back to the counter, Keith in tow. “This is the scanner, you scan books with it.” He quickly demonstrated how to use it for checking out and returning books. “This is the computer, when you scan a card, the person’s file will come up, you’ll see if they owe anything. If they owe more than two dollars in late fees, they can’t check out a new book. That’s really all you need to know. If you have any computer questions, talk to Pidge, she’s our IT girl. If you find anything broken, tell Hunk. Here’s some books to shelve. Bye.”

“Uh, how are any of these books organized?”

Lance smacked his palms on the counter. “God damn it, can’t you do anything by yourself?” Lance grabbed the books and stormed off, leaving Keith. He stopped abruptly and turned. “Well come on, you need to learn how to do your job.”

Lance continued to harbor his grudge all afternoon. He was angry leaving work. He was angry getting on the bus. He was angry all evening when he was babysitting his little siblings while his parents worked their hides off to feed them. He was angry getting into bed that night. Why did it bother him so much that one asshole he never talked to didn’t remember him? He thought for sure that Keith would. He wanted Keith to remember him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith was confused. A little annoyed that his new co-worker hated him for not remembering a rivalry they didn’t have, but mostly confused.

On the ride home from the library Keith asked, “Shiro, does Lance normally hate everyone?”

“No. He’s usually pretty chill. Why?”

“He sure did seem to hate me. And I don’t even know why! He acted like he knew me. I’ve never even spoken to him before today!” Keith was getting more angry by the second. He wanted to enjoy this job, or at least not hate it. Now this idiot Lance was ruining any chance of that happening.

“Maybe you just forgot? You don’t really pay a lot of attention to other people unless they’re talking right to you.”

“Yeah I guess. Thanks for hooking me up with the job, by the way.”

“No problem, anything for my little brother.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. Keith tried to remember Freshman year. He remembered seeing Lance around school every now and then, but he saw so many faces in a day that he didn’t register. Keith spent the rest of the night thinking about it.

Then it hit him. That annoying kid in Geometry. The one who always was staring at that girl, Nyma, was it? He was always saying something about grades or being the best or whatever. Keith still didn’t remember talking to him ever. But he didn’t really talk to anyone in ninth grade, especially a kid like Lance, annoying, loud, class clown Lance McClain.