#pidge steals food off his plate one day and almost dies

[vldsideblog]

Btw Keith likes his food spicy. I’m talking redneck bullshit spicy. He’ll also add hot sauce to basically any meal possible. Half the reason he isn’t allowed to cook for other people is because he forgets that not everyone has his spice tolerance and love of putting hot sauce in spaghetti.

[abadoodlesss]

More Than a Prisoner - Chapter Seven

Tag List: @missieluvsmurder @a-fan-fighting-for-equality @sleepy-demon @murpmurp

Read Previous Chapters Here!

Next: Chapter Eight 

Bella let her eyes flutter open. She sat up and raised her arms above her head to stretch, rubbing over the muscles that were still sore from three days prior when she help Hunk man the kitchen. She never realized how strenuous baking was.

Rolling out of the slab she called a bed, Bella grabbed her raggedy dress from the corner of her bed. Striping out of the pajamas Lance lent to her, Bella slipped the dress over her head. She buttoned up the back with her nimble fingers, pulling her wild hair out from underneath the garment and twisting it into a bun.

Then she did what she found herself doing very often, waiting around until Shiro told her what to do. Bella wasn’t complaining much, she knew things could be worse but she couldn’t help but wonder what her life even was anymore. She had dreamed of what she would do with her life once she finally escaped Lotor’s grasp, and this certainly what she dream of. Bella was taken away from her thoughts about her bleak life when there was a knock at her cell door.

She stayed silent. The door slid open and Bella walked out, receiving the tray Shiro held out for her. She noted the way her breakfasts seemed to get more extravagant with each day, how less and less green goop was incorporated into her meal. Upon her plate now was toast and scrambled eggs, no trace of green goop at all.

Bella knew that with each passing day, with each breakfast, Shiro was trying to show he was sorry. She did appreciate it, he was obviously doing it on his own as Hunk was still very much asleep. What Bella didn’t appreciate is the fact that Shiro had to show his apology through kind gestures but not through words. All she wanted was for him to say, “I’m sorry for being a huge dick the other night at the diner with the Balmerans and treating you like less than human. It was incredibly stupid, I’m incredibly stupid”. Was that too much to ask for?

Until Shiro managed to verbalize his apology, Bella would continue to give him the cold shoulder.

They walked in silence until Shiro stopped at a room.

“Things got a little intense in here yesterday.” Shiro explained revealing what Bella assumed was their training room. It was a mess.

There were clothes and gear strewn everywhere as well as miscellaneous weapons lazily ‘put away’. If that wasn’t bad enough, the whole room smelt like teenage boys and sweat. Bella was sure it would take her the rest of her life to rid the room of that scent.

Shiro must have noticed the face Bella made. “Yeah, we were training almost all day, I felt bad making the guys clean up, they were so exhausted.”

“So you make me do it instead.” Bella grumbled to herself, placing her breakfast on the ground, annoyed she wouldn’t have time to eat it while it was hot. She brushed past Shiro as she turned her attention instead to the clothes on the floor. It aggravated her that at the end of the day, she was stuck doing chores for a man who thought so little of her.  

“Bella-” He started, but Shiro didn’t know what he could say. He knew why she was mad, hell he was just as mad at himself as Bella was. Shiro felt terrible for dismissing her like that, but in the moment he panicked, he had no idea how to talk about her situation to the Balmeran’s. He thought it would just be best for her to leave. He knew at that moment it was a mistake. The second he saw the hurt on Bella’s face that night, his heart sank. They were just starting to get along and now he forced them back to square one. God, he was such an idiot.

Bella heard a sigh leave Shiro’s lips followed by his retreating footsteps. Bella grumbled to herself, ranting about who Shiro thought he was as she collected the clothes.

Bella’s fingers were cramping because of how hard she was pressing down on the rag, scrubbing the floor until it shined.

The training room was nowhere near spotless, but Bella made significant progress. She was currently crawling across the floor on her hands and knees, scrubbing the spots on the floor that needed a little extra elbow grease. She’d already been over the entire floor with a mop but there were stubborn stains littered across the floor that she was determined to get rid of.

She dunked her rag into a bucket of soapy water just as the doors slid open behind her. Bella couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling. She threw the rag down and stood up to face who she assumed was Shiro. As she turned around, she instead came face to face with Keith.

“What are you doing in here?” He asked, his voice dripping with disgust.

“Cleaning up your mess.” Bella said, returning to scrubbing the floor.

Suddenly, Bella felt a hand clasp onto her upper arm, dragging her to her feet. “Well, I need the training room.” He said, practically dragging Bella to the door. She wriggled in his grasp but couldn’t free herself. Keith took her all the way to the door, letting it slide open before he shoved her into the hallway. The doors closed behind her as she steadied her footing.

Bella couldn’t believe the audacity of that boy. There was no way in hell she was going to let that slide. She whirled around, anger filling her entire body. Just as she was about to pound on the door, a small voice called out to her.

“Bella?”

Bella turned to see Pidge and Hunk, both with concerned faces as they noticed Bella’s ticked off expression.

“Are you alright?” Hunk asked, a bit hesitant.

Bella sighed. “I’m fine. It’s just Keith, he-.” She sighed again, feeling some of her anger alleviate. “It’s nothing.” She finished, having a much more pleasant tone, throwing in a soft smile too. “What are you guys up to?”

“Everybody’s planning on having dinner together tonight.” Pidge explained. “We never really eat as a family, we’re normally too busy but we thought we’d make the time for it tonight.”

“And of course, I’m cooking.” Hunk added.

“Sounds nice.” Bella said, her stomach grumbling as she thought about Hunk’s cooking, choosing to focus on that rather than the fact she’d be eating alone in her cell tonight.

“I could always use a co-chef.” Hunk offered. Bella remembered how much fun they had while cooking for the Balmerans. It was the best day she had in the castle so far.  

“Well my schedule just cleared up.” She said, giving a final glance to the training room doors. “I’d love to help.”

The three headed to the kitchen, Hunk baking away while Pidge and Bella sat and watched, offering emotional support rather than any actual help.

The girls talked, Hunk chiming in every once in a while, but he was much more focused on the meal he was preparing. Bella had gotten to know Lance and Hunk fairly quickly, and she knew Pidge was part of their trio, but Bella always felt a disconnect with Pidge. Thankfully, they got the chance to really talk with one another, bond a little bit. She learned a lot about Pidge, firstly that Bella really liked her. She was so intelligent for her age, hell for any age. Pidge was so passionate about technology and a total master of it. She was an interesting girl and Bella was nothing but impressed. She learned how Hunk, Pidge and Lance were friends back at the Garrison. That led to countless embarrassing stories about Lance that Bella was sure she’d use for blackmail one day.

“Lance was always getting us into trouble.” Hunk said through a laugh.

“It was the easiest way for him to get attention.” Pidge added, making them all laugh.

“Looks like nothing’s changed.” Bella commented.

Perfect timing. Lance walked into the kitchen to find his three friends laughing. He, of course, wanted to be a part of the joke.

“What’s so funny, guys?” He asked.

“Oh nothing.” Bella said, trying to contain her laughter, but the second she looked at Pidge and Hunk, she burst out laughing again.

“It’s about me isn’t it?” Lance asked after his friend’s giggles died down.

“Course not, buddy.” Hunk said, clapping Lance on the back.

Lance shrugged off Hunk’s hand and took a seat beside Bella. He was only a little bitter, Lance often was (but hated being) the butt of anyone’s joke. He liked to think of himself as the funny one, no one makes fun of the funny one, that’s the funny one’s job. He didn’t mind all that much though. if having Hunk and Pidge tell embarrassing stories about himself meant that he could hear Bella’s laugh, it was worth it. Lance was almost entranced in the way her head went back slightly as she let out a cackle, letting her beautiful eyes shut and her nose wrinkle in the cutest way.

Lance could feel himself really falling for Bella, he felt something for her from the moment he saw her. Though that’s normally how it went with any girl Lance came across, but with each passing day, each conversation, he felt more and more for Bella.  

“I can’t believe you did that.” Bella said to Lance through her giggles. Lance panicked for a second, he’d been so focused on staring at her that he had no idea what the group was talking about.

“That’s not even the worst of it, Bel” Hunk said.

“Enough guys, he’s embarrassed.” Bella said, holding in her giggles as she looked at Lance. It was then that Lance realized he had a very apparent blush on his cheeks, no doubt due to staring at Bella for so long.

“Need your girlfriend to stand up for you?” Pidge teased.

“I don’t need anybody to stand up for me. I’m the most macho man.” Lance said, jumping out of his chair to flex what little muscle he had, purposely trying to distract from the fact that Pidge called Bella his girlfriend.

“Of course you are.”

“No samples!” Hunk scolded, swatting away Bella’s hand as she tried to again steal something off his tray. Hunk and Lance were manning the stove and there was an unattended tray topped with something sweet. Bella thought she’d be able to snag one without Hunk noticing, but he apparently had the vision of a hawk when it came to food.

“C’mon.” Bella cried. “Nobody’s gonna miss just one.”

“I would.” He replied, turning back to the stove.

“So unfair, you guys are gonna get to eat all this food.” Bella complained. “I’ll be lucky if Shiro gives me leftovers.” She whispered this last part more to herself, but everyone heard.

“I think you’ll survive without one.” Lance said, leaning over the counter to where Bella sat. She glared at him but he took her hand resting on the countertop and flipped it over. He quickly placed the little sweet roll in her hand, closing her fingers over it.  He held a finger to his lips, telling Bella to stay quiet. She gave him a sweet smile.  

“Alright, that’s the last of ‘em.” Hunk called, pulling the final tray out of the oven. “Can you three start taking things out to the table?”

Bella stopped for a moment. Of course, she wanted to help Hunk, but she thought of what happened the last time she was in the dining room, what Shiro said to her.

“Are you alright, Bella?” Pidge called. She and Lance were almost half way out the door before they realized Bella didn’t grab anything yet.

“Uh, yeah, just start setting the table without me.” She said, knowing that only made her friends more suspicious.

“You guys go ahead.” She heard Lance whisper. Bella’s back was to them, but she heard Pidge and Hunk’s retreating footsteps as Lance came closer to her. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Bella said, turning to face the blue paladin. “Really, I am. It’s just what Shiro said the other night.”

“You know he didn’t mean it.”

“Didn’t he?” Bella cried. “Why else would he say it?”

“Since when do you care what Shiro has to say about you?”

“I don’t, I just- I thought we were finally making process, Lance, I thought I was starting to be more than just a prisoner to him, but he proved that isn’t the case.”

Lance could see Bella was getting worked up, her face was flushing and her eyes were starting to prick with tears that she tried to hide from him. He grabbed onto her shoulders, forcing her to face him, but she never met his eyes.

“You are so much more than just some prisoner, Bella.” He said. “You are so much more, you don’t even know.”

“Am I?” Bella said, chuckling a little.

“You really are.” He practically whispered, there was no need to be loud for the two were so close together now. They stayed silent for a moment, enjoying being so close to one another.  Lance was sure that if Bella just tilted her head a little higher he’d be able to reach her lips, the lips that finally turned from a frown to a smile.

“Get a room.’ Pidge called as she and Hunk returned, grabbing another tray each.

Moment ruined. Lance and Bella separated from each other. Bella gave him a grateful look before turning her attention to a tray.

The four ignored the moment as they all headed to the dining room.

The rest of team Voltron were already seated at the table, chatting to one another.

“Eat up guys.” Hunk said, placing down his tray before fixing himself a plate. Bella froze for only a moment before Lance gave her a reassuring look.

Pidge and Lance laid their trays down and took their seats. Bella stood awkwardly, trying to find a place to leave her tray before she could make a swift escape back to the kitchen.

Just her luck, the only open space on the table was right in between Shiro and Keith’s seats. Bella took a calming breath. Just push through, Bel she thought to herself.

“Excuse me.” She said, as she placed the tray down. Though Bella was sure to get out of there as soon as humanly possible, she managed to see the look of surprise on Shiro’s face. He opened his mouth to say something but Bella was already at the other side of the table before he could utter a syllable. “Is that everything?” She asked Hunk.

“Yeah, thanks for the help today.” He said.

“No problem.” She said, patting Hunk on the shoulder before turning to leave. She supposed she’d wait in the kitchen to see what leftovers Hunk would bring in, it was only fair after all the hard work she did talking to Pidge and him all day.

A chair pushed back from the table, scraping across the floor with a screech.

“Bella, wait.” Someone called. She turned.

It was Shiro.

He stood at the table, arm outstretched to Bella. All eyes were on him. It was then, Shiro realized how intense and embarrassing his outburst was.

“Take a seat.” He said in a calmer tone, fighting the urge to look away from her glare. Her expression turned from annoyance to suspicion, slightly better but not the look he was hoping for.

After Bella didn’t answer, Shiro walked to an empty chair, pulling it out so Bella could sit. He looked at her expectantly, but Bella still seemed hesitant. “I’m really sorry for what I said to you the other day.” He said. Bella was impressed, she was sure if Shiro was going to apologize, he’d do it quietly to her and only her, not in front of the rest of his team. She could see in his eyes how sorry he was, and he was making a sincere effort. “I hope you accept my apology and join us for dinner.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” She said, sitting as Shiro pushed in her chair for her.

“Where could you be, little flower?” Lotor asked aloud to himself, staring out a window into the vastness of the galaxy. He’d asked himself this question each and every day since his Bella managed to escape. No one had any information as to her whereabouts yet. It was infuriating.

The ship she stole was found but any trace of the girl was lost. How could she have just disappeared like that?  With each passing day, Lotor worried more and more that his Bella may be gone forever

The prince’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.” He called, keeping his amber eyes fixated on the window as if he stared long enough, he'd be able to spot her.

“We’ve found her, sir, alive.”

Lotor stayed facing his window, letting the corners of his lips turn up in a smirk.

“And where might little Bella be?” His tone was nothing but malicious.

“We have reason to believe she’s been taken in by Voltron, sir.”

A deep chuckle rumbled through Lotor’s chest. He finally turned to the soldier, a wicked grin on his lips.

“How wonderful.”

[onemuseleft]

Keith and Lance and Thanksgiving (I'm assuming the Garrison is in America here)

Lance:

Lance’s family is from Cuba originally, so they didn’t really do the Thanksgiving thing - no pilgrims or turkeys or football, but they were, as a whole, pretty much 100% down for a big family celebration and a day or two off work/school so they got into the habit. Eventually it became a thing with them and as they all grew up and moved on with their lives, Thanksgiving was the holiday it was easiest to negotiate off work  or to slip away from the in-laws. Lance unironically loves it because it’s just cooking and food and hanging out with his family. At the Garrison he meets Hunk, who loves to cook and also didn’t really celebrate it, and they make their own little holiday of homecooked food stolen from the commissary. They even make Pidge join them, that one year after ‘he’ joins their team and before they wander their way into an intergalactic war.

He misses it a little while he’s with Voltron, but there’s so little time to think about it, and no real way to know what the date is back on Earth. Mostly it’s just one more thing he misses about his family, a drop in the ocean of his fears and regrets.

(Once, two or three years in, after Lance had been captured by the Galra and escaped and a made his way home, he wanders into the kitchen and Hunk has made an alien approximation of their “traditional” Thanksgiving feast from the Garrison and the others just think it’s a fancy dinner to celebrate his return, although Pidge looks a little misty-eyed and probably gets it. No one asks why Lance basically bursts into tears when Hunk hands him a plate, but they get it even if they don’t know the details)

****

Keith: 

Keith’s Dad tried, he really did, to give Keith some kind of normal life. He failed, for the most part, which Keith is pretty okay with because he’s met a lot of normal people and they’re all fucking weird. But his dad tried to do things right when he was growing up. They always had Christmas wherever they were, even if his dad had to save up for it all year, and for New Years they’d have sparkling cider (if dad remembered to buy it, soda if he didn’t) and watch the ball drop on TV which was super boring, but Keith liked staying up late and hanging out with his dad like a grown up. Thanksgiving wasn’t a big deal though - sometimes they’d forget about it entirely, or sometimes it was just some boxed stuffing and canned cranberries on a random Thursday in November. After his dad died, Thanksgiving became his least favorite holiday. His foster homes included him in Christmas and they celebrated his birthday and the older he got the more he realized New Years was just fucking stupid. But Thanksgiving was the worst because no matter how hard he tried, sitting around another family’s table, listening to them list off everything they were grateful for, watching them try to be sympathetic and patient when he declined to join in, never stopped being torture. He wasn’t grateful to be a guest in someone else’s family. He wasn’t grateful to have lost both his parents and the only home he’d ever really known. He wasn’t grateful and he refused to pretend.

****

Klance:

The first year after they get back to Earth, Lance takes him home for Thanksgiving and it’s a big house crammed full of people Keith has never met. There are children touching him with sticky hands and strangers touching him on the arm and shoulder, clapping him on the back, hugging him and kissing his cheek. They talk to him constantly, they ask personal questions, they tell him more than he really needs to know about their lives and their family and their work. He can’t remember half their names and he’s almost positive the other half never actually introduced themselves. 

But he’s not a guest here. No one’s gazing at him pitifully, no one’s struggling to be patient with his awkwardness. When he gets overwhelmed they smile and laugh and apologize for being so noisy. And when he has to get away and breathe for a minute, no one acts offended or tries to stop him. 

Lance finds him a little while later, sitting on the back porch and throwing a stick for the dog. He doesn’t urge Keith to come back inside or chide him for being antisocial, just sits down next to him and scoots in close until they’re pressed together from hip to shoulder. They sit there like that, for a long time, listening to the sounds of family coming from inside the house.

“You ready to go back in?” Keith finally asks, because he kind of thinks he is. 

“Nah,” Lance says. “This is cozy. Let’s stay out here for a bit.” He leans his head against Keith’s shoulder and Keith wraps his free arm around Lance’s waist and it’s almost perfect.

“Whose dog is that anyway?” Lance asks, several long minutes later. “None of us have a dog. Did you steal someone’s dog?”