#protect Keith. because either she gets taken away or he does. she doesn’t belong on earth and she can’t force her son to hide. they’re lucky

[sockdooe]

FUCK YOU VOLTRON LEGENDARY DEFENDER!!!!!!!!!!!! I SHOULD NOT BE CRYING AT DAMN NEAR MIDNIGHT CAUSE OF YOUR FAILURE OF A SHOW ASS 🖕

[hatandgoggles-writing]

Crazy, Millennial Love Story chapter 13

Read on AO3, FF.net or under the cut!

Like a kettle on a raging fire, Keith starts squealing when things get too hot under his feet. The pressure is off, misunderstandings are addressed, and Keith can finally breathe easily again. 

For now, at least.

Chapter 13 of ? Ongoing 3246 words Modern/romance

Keith was comfortable. He was comfortable, safe, warm and… moving? He groaned as he cracked an eye open. “Where am I?” He mumbled as he took in his surroundings. He was in a car. The one that belonged to Hunk’s mother, to be precise, with the chef behind the wheel. He was lying, spread over the back seat, leaning against Shiro’s chest, the man’s arm firmly around his waist as he couldn’t wear a seat belt in this position, and covered in all three of their coats. That sure explained the warmth. Every pothole, every bump of hastily fixed asphalt that was characteristic for any road in the metropolis’ downtown area only worsened his headache, though. He must have had one Hell of a fall. “Where are we going?”

“What? Dude, we’re taking you to the hospital!” Hunk called from behind the wheel. “You fainted, remember? You were well fed, you had enough to drink, but not too much either. You had literally no reason to pass out, so we’re getting you checked out.”

“W-What?! No!” Keith protested as he kicked the coats off his legs, sitting upright. “I’m fine, I swear!” He only stopped struggling when he felt Shiro’s prosthetic tighten around his waist.

“Keith… You’ve been acting weird all month. I’m worried about you, you know. What if it’s something serious?”

“I know…” Keith mumbled, settling back into the man’s chest. “But I’m really okay, physically speaking. You don't have to take me to a doctor." He pleaded, and not much later, he felt the car come to a halt as Hunk pulled into a parking space by the road.

"But, if it's not physical, then what is it?" Hunk asked, turning in his chair to look in the back seat. Keith noticed traces on cheeks from old tears. He’d have to somehow make this up to him, but it would have to wait. He had to talk himself out of this situation first.

"Just stress, I guess." Keith said. It wasn't a lie, just a gross oversimplification, and Hunk seemed to be buying it. "The last two months have just… It's been a lot to adjust to."

"Right, I get it. But try not to overwork yourself, okay? I know it can be tempting, but you need to be careful with what jobs you do and don’t take."

If it was up to Keith, Hunk would never find out how hard he just hit the nail on its head, though. "I'll be careful." He mumbled solemnly.

"Good. Now if you guys don’t mind, I’ll drive you home." Hunk said optimistically as he started the car again, driving the two of them back to their apartment.

Even though Keith was now conscious and sitting up in his own seat, Shiro maintained his death grip on Keith’s waist. Hunk might have bought Keith’s excuse, but the older man wasn't having it. Deep down, Keith was painfully aware of this. He shouldn’t have been caught off guard by what came next.

"Is this somehow about my relationship with Allura?" Shiro asked, performatively staring out the window, resting his chin on his hand, to further drive home the casual, disinterested tone he had delivered the question in. Keith tensed under Shiro's arm, he knew Keith hated it whenever he feigned indifference, possibly even more than when it was real. "I knew it!" He shouted. “This is about me dating Allura!”

"How did you know?!" Keith asked, looking at him in bewilderment.

"Keith, buddy, it really doesn't take a detective to figure that out. All month, you've been moping in your bed, which really wouldn't be weird for you, but not once did I come home to the apartment smelling like weed. You've been losing your appetite halfway through or skipping meals altogether,"

"Skipping meals?!"

"at so much as a mention of Allura, and you've been making me promise to be safe and call you if anything went wrong, but only when I went out with Allura. Keith, you're even skinnier than when you moved in with me three years ago. Did you really think I wouldn't notice something was up?"

"Shiro, I..." Keith stammered, his vision blurring as tears welled up in his eyes. "I-I don't… I just wanted to..."

"Protect me?"

Keith nodded. Shiro sighed.

"You know, I've actually talked about this with Allura. See, before we met I used to date this guy who thought he had to protect me from the world, and seeing as you don’t know about his existence and apparently came to the conclusion that I'm heterosexual, it's safe to say that that relationship didn't work out."

Keith could only look up at the man. Eyes like saucers, his jaw slack, and his mind was having more than a little trouble keeping up.

"But we can talk about that later if you want. What's important now is that, yes, I'm technically physically disabled, and yes, my mental stability isn't what it used to be, but I'm not naive. Being a cop in the big city does that to you. I trust Allura and Coran, which only leads me to the question 'Why don't you?'"

Keith shook his head, looking down at his feet to hide the tears in his eyes only to make them fall to his lap immediately. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me.” Shiro said sternly. “If something happened to you, I want to know it. Trust is a two way street, remember? You can talk to me."

Keith sobbed and rubbed the tears from his eyes. That’s right. Shiro trusted him. And while it was difficult, Keith knew he had to trust Shiro as well. "Remember when I took that job from that anonymous number?"

"And I told you you were pretty stupid for not asking the guy's name? Oh, I remember."

"Thanks for rubbing that in. Anyway he introduced himself to me when he arrived at our meeting point. He said his name was Lotor."

"Oh boy. That couldn’t have ended well..." Hunk squeaked from behind the wheel, sinking in his seat ever so slightly, but it was enough to catch Shiro's attention.

"You know this Lotor guy, Hunk?" Shiro asked.

The man behind the wheel nodded. "Yeah, I know him, alright. We all do. We just don’t particularly like bringing him up. He’s something of a collective trauma I really wish you guys wouldn’t have to deal with.”

“How come?” Shiro asked curiously.

“Have you guys ever seen Scott Pilgrim?” Hunk checked. “Like, Allura doesn't need seven evil exes. She just has one evil ex with the combined spite and saltiness of at least ten evil exes." He said as he squeezed the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. "He tries to scare off anyone who would be her friend or potential romantic partner. And what’s worse is that he’s successful pretty often. We've all had to deal with him. It got ugly most times, but now we just block him and as many of his teenage cronies we can on all of our platforms. It's easy enough, I'll show you guys how to do it some time."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Hunk, but he drew Keith out in the real world. I don't think it's as easy to keep a handle on a bitter ex and his posse of fangirls when they can physically come at you." Shiro argued.

"You're right." Hunk sighed in agreement. "And, I mean, not only is the physical threat concerning, but there's also the fact that this is the most unpredictable he's been since I've been friends with Allura. He’s never tried to approach us outside of the internet."

"What baffles me most is that he went for Keith, not for me, since I would be his direct competitor."

"It's because he knows we're close." Keith spoke up, driving the heels of his palms into his eyes in frustration. "He told me Allura did the shittiest things to him while they were dating, and then he made me promise to keep you safe."

"Two birds, one stone." Shiro concluded.

Keith's shoulders shook as a sob wracked through his body. "I'm sorry." He croaked. "I shouldn't have trusted some eccentric rando over you and Allura! I was just so scared..."

Shiro hushed him as he pulled Keith into a tight hug, firmly rubbing between his shoulders. "It's okay. For what it’s worth, if I had been in your shoes, I probably would have done the same. No offense, Hunk."

"None taken.” Hunk piped up from behind the steering wheel. “Ah, we're here."

"Trust me, it's worth a lot." Keith chuckled through his tears, muffled by Shiro's sweater. “And again, I’m sorry.”

"You should save your apologies for Allura, Keith. And Hunk, I can't let you drive home with a clear conscience. You can stay the night at our place." Shiro offered as he gathered up their coats.

"Thanks, that sounds great. I’ll call my mom to let her know."

"Hunk, babe, are you awake?" Keith asked as he stared at his darkened ceiling. It had to be at least 4 in the morning, but he didn't care enough to turn his head to take a look at his alarm clock. Hunk was warm and comfortable at his side, cuddled against him in Keith's cramped single bed.

"Yeah, I'm awake." Hunk mumbled, a hand coming up to brush the hair out of Keith's face. "Why?"

"I was just wondering..." Keith whispered, hesitating for a second. "If I had asked you about what Lotor told me about Allura, would you have believed me?"

A deep sigh escaped Hunk, tickling Keith’s neck, as he thought on his answer. "I don't think I would. I've known her for a few years, and Lotor and his fans have tried to drag me away from her too, and she supported me through all of it, so I'd have a hard time believing she could have been a bad, manipulative person."

"Then what would you do if you hadn't? What if you didn’t know the first thing about her, except what she posts online?" Keith asked as he rolled to his side, facing the other man.

"I… would listen to what you have to say. Then, I would talk to Allura, try to find some of the guys she dated other than Lotor, talk to them, and then take what I found back to you, and hope we could all come to a mutual understanding. Like… I don't like passing judgment based on rumors."

"I try not to, usually. I just don't know what came over me this time."

"Hey, it's okay. Shiro is your best friend. You were just worried. But… next time you're struggling with a dilemma like this, come talk to me, okay? I'll help you out."

"'Kay." Keith yawned. "Thanks Hunk. Good night."

"Good night, Keith."

“Allura?” Shiro tried, speaking into the receiver of his cell phone.

“Shiro, ohmigod! You took forever! Is Keith okay? What did the doctors say?” Allura’s voice came from the other side of the line. She sounded concerned. Scared. Panicked, even.

“We… never arrived at the hospital?” He hesitated.

“WHAT?!”

“No, wait, shit, I mean he woke up before we got there, and he told us what was wrong with him.”

“Right, and he can just tell what’s going on?” Allura asked. She didn’t sound too impressed.

“Well, yeah. He got really stressed. Like, a panic attack… And he passed out. Simple as that. Because we’re dating.”

“Because we’re dating?” She asked, disbelief dominant in her voice.

“Yeah. Apparently your ex didn’t come after me, like we expected. He just booked a shoot with Keith about a month ago, and he just put the most horrible ideas about you into his head, and he’s just been mulling on it for weeks. It’s been eating him from the inside.”

“I can’t believe I used to date that guy.” Allura sighed in exasperation. “To think that he would stoop so low.”

“It’s okay Allura, there’s no way you could have known it would go like this. It’s not fair to beat yourself up over this, so please don’t. I promise I’ll be better than him.”

A chuckle came from the other side of the line. “That’s not a high bar to raise, honey.”

‘Honey’. The idea that Allura would refer to him as such still reddened his cheeks, quickened his heartbeat and made the hairs on his neck stand on end.

“Shiro, listen… If you don’t want to go public with this, with what happened to Keith and all, and the chance of Lotor losing his shit, I understand.”

“No, I still want to. I don’t care about Lotor or what he might do. I love you, and I want the world to know. If you’ll let me, that is.”

“Trust me, I’ll let you. But what about Keith?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll talk to him in the morning. We might come over later tomorrow if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind. I actually want to see him in person after what he pulled earlier.”

“I completely understand.” Shiro chuckled. “So… uh… good night, I guess?”

“Right. Good night, love.”

“Good night, sweetheart.” It was still so alien to him; being in an intimate, romantic relationships, being called ‘honey’, ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’, and calling his partner ‘honey’, ‘love’ and ‘sweetheart’ in return. It felt alien, but it felt good.

It felt right.

It was 11 in the morning by the time Shiro and Keith were on the bus to Allura’s apartment again. Hunk had gone home about an hour earlier, but not before making breakfast and ensuring the three of them were well fed and ready to tackle the day. Especially Keith. It was sweet how concerned he was for his well being, Keith thought. He wasn’t used to all this love and affection being directed at him. Even Shiro wasn’t as hands-on as Hunk was. He would have to make it up to his boyfriend, someday. Maybe with some grand gesture, like in the movies. But that would have to wait for now. There was something else on his mind altogether.

“About last night…” Keith started, glancing at the man sitting across from him. “You said you used to have a boyfriend, right? That wasn’t just my pounding skull talking to me?”

“Nope, that was all me.” Shiro said, smiling sheepishly. “But yeah, I had a boyfriend in high school.”

“And not just because you were ‘bi-curious’?”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m a full-blown bisexual.” Shiro said as his smile became more confident.

“So, then, why didn’t you tell me?” Keith asked.

Shiro only shrugged. “It never came up.”

“Dude, I came out to you!” Keith hissed, only not to shout on a bus full of people. “I’d call that ‘bringing it up’!”

“Hey, that was your moment. I didn’t want to make it about myself.”

Keith groaned in frustration. “While that’s really sweet and all, it really didn’t occur to you that telling me about this thing we have in common, being attracted to men, might make me feel better about myself? I mean, in all the time we’ve spent together, I’ve never once seen you look at a guy the way you look at Allura. There’s no way I could have just guessed.”

Shiro stared at Keith, a shocked, nervous smile on his face. “Yeah, you make a valid point there. And, I mean, I hope this thing with Allura is going to be long term, it would have taken even longer for you to find out… I’m sorry, Keith.”

“It’s okay.” Keith said, smiling sadly as he patted Shiro’s knee. “But seriously though, I’m happy for you and Allura. I’ve only ever seen you guys be good for each other.”

“Thanks, Keith. You have no idea what that means to me. Now, if I’m not mistaken, this is our stop.”

“Keith!” Allura yelled when she opened the door, flinging her arms around the shorter man’s shoulders, almost immediately pulling back to get a better look at him. He still wasn’t looking his best, but definitely better than last night. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She whispered as she pulled him into a more gentle hug this time. “You really scared us there, you know?”

“Yeah.” Keith mumbled. “I, uh, I have a rough idea. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pass out.”

“I don’t think anyone means to pass out.” Shiro joked, trying to make light of the situation, but quickly swallowed his words when the two glanced up at him, a near identical unimpressed pout on both their faces. “I’ll be quiet.”

“I hope you don’t mind, Keith, but Shiro called me last night to tell me about your situation… Nearly gave him a heart attack when he told me you guys never made it to the hospital.” She spoke as she gently punched Shiro in the arm. “He told me Lotor talked to you.”

“Boy did he…” Keith mumbled under his breath, glancing away from her, still feeling like he had somehow betrayed her. “I… I know I shouldn’t have trusted him. I knew you’d never do anything bad to Shiro, but there always was this tiny seed of doubt that something might go wrong, and it wrecked me.”

“Keith, no. Don’t blame yourself. None of this is your fault, and you know it. I just wanted to warn you, because it might happen again. Especially when Shiro and I make our relationship public.”

“I’ll be ready for him this time.” Keith said, his eyes full with newfound determination. “I’ll know he’s a lying sack of shit and shouldn’t be trusted.”

Allura giggled, for the first time that day. “I appreciate the sentiment, Keith. Approaching people outside of the internet usually isn’t his way of doing things, though. He’ll be unpredictable to any of us from here on out.”

Keith only shrugged. “I tend not to think too far ahead myself. Unpredictability is just the way I roll.”

“If you say so, Keith.” Allura said, smiling ever so endearingly. “Can I ask you a favor?”

“After what I did, I’ll do just about anything to make it up to you.” Keith said, fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves.

“Then would you take the picture for our announcement?” She asked again, offering Keith her camera. It was nearly identical to his own, with the exception of her more expensive and high-end lense and flash diffuser.

Keith smiled and gratefully took the camera in both hands. “Where do you want this taken?”

Allura took Shiro’s hand and lead him to the ceiling-high windows, overlooking the city skyline. “Here is fine.”

Keith nodded and got ready, bringing the viewfinder to his eye. “Come on, Shiro, smile. Do something, no need to be nervous.” He encouraged.

“Uh, well, okay.” Shiro mumbled when Keith went back to find the two of them through the lense again.

The next thing he heard was a loud whoop and giggle from Allura as Shiro swept her off her feet, cradling her in his arms like the princess she was. Keith chuckled as he clicked the shutter what had to have been at least ten times. He smiled genuinely, unlike last night, when he still worried for Shiro’s general well being. No, this time it felt right. They were friends. Close ones, after only a few months.

And Keith would never let anyone try to tear them apart ever again.

[nandireya]

More Than Life...

Continuing from here More Than Life Chapter Two

Lance tried to get Keith to talk because it was something Lance was very good at. He tried to get him to talk about himself, about his life, about the Blades of Mamora. He tried to get him to give him some pointers about sword play, brandishing the weapon he’d appropriated during the battle at Garsiwn. He talked because, Pidge suspected, he just liked to hear the sound of his own voice. But it seemed talking wasn’t something Keith was very good at at all.

Of course he’d only agreed to their accompanying him reluctantly so Pidge wasn’t really surprised that he didn’t want to build any real kind of rapport with them. Lance had eventually given up and had resorted to playing a travelling game with Hunk instead.

“Are you animal, mineral of vegetable?” Hunk asked with a sigh. Lance seemed to ponder for a moment. “I’m thinking…animal…” “Actual or mythical?” “Mythical.” “Is it a dragon?” “Nope.” “Basilisk?” “Try again.” “Griffin?” “Nuh-uh.” Lance shook his head. “And you’re running out of guesses. Ask something to narrow it down.” “Fine.” Hunk sighed, obviously not that into the game. “Mammalian, reptilian or avian?” “Huh?” Lance blinked. “Does it have fur, scales or feathers?” Hunk clarified. “And that doesn’t count as a question.” “Fur.” Pidge tuned them out, focusing instead on their newfound, well, she couldn’t really call him a friend. Ally, perhaps? All she really knew about him was that he had no love for the Galra, even though he probably was one. Though, she had a feeling it went beyond their slaughter of his brotherhood. She glanced back to where he was bringing up the rear of their little group. He’d let his chestnut stallion, Palgan, she’d learned in one of his brief, chattier moments, set his own pace. As the day drew on she noticed he seemed to get more and more unfocused. The sky, at least what could be seen of it through the canopy, had taken on a distinctive pinkish tint when he slid from Palgan’s back and headed off into the trees. “Hey!” Lance exclaimed as he noticed. “Where are you going?” The trio exchanged a quick glance before following him. He wasn’t moving very fast, in fact he paused, allowing them to catch up, before leading them to a crumbling structure of stone and wood. An abandoned cottage deep in the woods and partially reclaimed by it. “We’ll camp here for the night.” He said. There was a slight edge to his voice, an anxiousness that hadn’t been there before. “Don’t tell me the big, bad, Mamorite is afraid of the dark?” Lance teased. “Do you have any idea what kind of monsters roam these woods when the sun goes down?” He countered. “If you want to live long enough to get through this forest you’ll listen to what I say.” “I AM a hunter, remember?” Lance growled. “And what have you hunted?” Keith shot back. “Rabbits? Deer? Have you ever faced a pack of hungry wolves? In the dark? With no way of knowing their numbers or exactly where they all are?” The colour drained from Lance’s face. The Mamorite had a point. Lance had never actually hunted at night. And they were far deeper into the woods than he’d ever been. Not that he’d admit it. “And there are worse things out there than wolves.” Keith’s voice softened as he looked away into the trees. “Uh…I’ll rustle us up some dinner before it gets dark.” Lance offered. “Rabbits or deer.” “I’ll check the perimeter.” Keith nodded. “Set some snares so we know if anything comes calling.” He turned to Hunk and Pidge. “If you could take care of the animals?” “Sure.” Hunk took the offered reins from him. He ran a gentle finger over the snowy bird’s feathers, perched on the horse’s saddle, as the bigger man led the pair towards the structure. “And get some rest.” He called after him. “We’ve still got a long way to go. We’ll be leaving at first light.” ~~~~~~ “So…” Lance mused as he tore a mouthful of flesh off the rabbit he’d managed to catch before the light had faded from the sky. “Do you think it’s a Galra thing or is he just a jerk?” “He’s not a jerk.” Pidge glared at him. “He’s…” she frowned, not sure how to finish. He WAS surly, kind of unfriendly, but he wasn’t really a jerk. Was he? “The Blade of Mamora were betrayed and murdered by the people they’d sworn to protect, right?” Hunk asked. “That’s gotta give anyone some serious trust issues.” “And we did kind of invite ourselves along on his little one man crusade.” Pidge added. “He’s probably just used to being on his own.” “Yeah, okay.” Lance conceded. “I guess he’s just lacking social skills, but…” he frowned. “Where the hell is he, anyway? He was going on about how dangerous the woods are after dark, and he’s still out there.” Palgan let out a reverberating snort that drew the trio’s attention. For a moment they thought it indicated Keith’s return, but when the horse started pawing the ground nervously they knew it was something else. With a quick, wordless exchange, Hunk tossed an old blanket over the fire to extinguish it before the trio crept up to the low stone wall that made up the front of their overnight accommodation. Using it as cover they each angled themselves up just enough to peek into the clearing in front of it. A tiny man, he was even shorter than Pidge, stepped from the trees, sniffing the air. His attire and odd hairstyle marked him as Galra. He was flanked on either side by two much larger, regular looking Galra in full battle armour. “I knew I could smell something.” The little one said. “Roast rabbit. He can’t be far.” “That tripwire was definitely a Mamorian tactic.” One of the others nodded, laying a hand on the sizeable dent on his breastplate. “Imagine if we’re the ones to bring in that filthy little half-breed?” The little one grinned wickedly. “We won’t be stuck in pathetic clean-up detail, that’s for sure.” Lance crept away from the wall, staying low, fingers inching towards his recently acquired sword. “What are you doing?” Hunk hissed at him. “There’s only three of them.” He whispered, looking back. “Two and a half, really. We can take them.” “That would be an extraordinarily bad idea.” It wasn’t a voice any of them recognised. “What the hell…” Lance began as he turned towards its source. “…looooohhhh….” his tone and expression changing to flirtatious mode mid sentence as he saw the speaker. Hunk and Pidge exchanged a knowing, exasperated look. Though, they couldn’t really blame him. She had to be the most beautiful woman any of them has ever seen. Her hair, short and roughly cropped, appeared to be the colour of the moonlight that offered the only illumination. Her dusky skin making it, and her sapphire eyes, appear even more luminous as she crept from the shadows to join them at the wall. “The Galra are touched by darkness.” She said, her eyes fixed on the armoured trio beyond their hiding place. “They are far more dangerous at night.” “So what do we do?” Hunk asked. “They’re gonna find us!” “They will if you don’t shut up!” Pidge growled. “I wouldn’t worry.” The newcomer smiled, a smile so entrancing it reduced Lance to a sighing bundle of uselessness. “You have a friend in these woods.” “We do?” Pidge questioned, maybe a little too loudly as three Galra heads turned in their direction. “What was that about shutting up?” Lance snapped, lunging for the sword. “Now we’re gonna have to-” He was cut off by a deep, rumbling growl. It was like nothing any of them had ever heard before. Even the Galra stopped in their tracks, turning slowly towards its source. It wasn’t a wolf, the sound was too deep, it belonged to a much bigger animal. And the strange, reverberating quality? Maybe the mythical creatures Hunk had been naming earlier weren’t so mythical after all. A pair of luminous eyes ignited in the underbrush as the creature they belonged to emerged from the darkness. It was enormous. It had a broad face surrounded by thick dark hair-like fur and a flat muzzle reminiscent of a cat. Lips curled back to reveal a set of very long, very sharp, dagger-like teeth as it growled again. As it moved into the clearing, all silent and slinky, it really did look like a cat, if a cat could be the size of a horse. It was sleekly muscled, built for the kill. Its tail was long and sinewy, with an obvious tuft at the end. “What the hell is that?” Lance breathed as the Galra backed away from its approach. “Manticore.” Hunk gasped. Its jaws gaped open as it let out a thunderous roar that shook the rafters and showered them with dust. The sounds that followed the roar would haunt their nightmares for weeks to come. “Oh, no.” The beauty covered her mouth as she rose to her feet. She threw one leg gracefully over the wall and was about to swing the other over when Lance grabbed her arm to stop her. “What are you doing?” His eyes were wide with fear. Fear for her, fear of the creature. “You can’t go out there with that…that…thing!” His eyes flickered past her to where the monster was hunkered down by the fallen Galra. She covered his hand with her own, smiling reassuringly. “He’d never hurt me.” She slipped from his grasp and moved towards the creature. It…he, how did she know that thing was a he…raised his head as she approached, glowing golden eyes fixed on her, teeth bared. “Shhhhh.” She held her hands out in front of her in a placating manner. The massive head dipped to one side, making the animal look strangely curious. The jaws closed, the eyes soften. No, the entire creature soften as she reached out to cup his jaw. He let out a low, somehow sorrowful rumble as she placed her forehead against his. She was whispering to him as she ran her fingers through his thick, dark mane, though she was too far away for any of them to make out what she was saying. Some kind of spell maybe? Was she a witch? Everything about the situation seemed bewitching and surreal. The creature sank to the ground with a loud thump. The woman wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur. They could hear his breathing even out, saw her smile as he curled around her and began to rumble soothingly. He really was just like an oversized cat. The woman didn’t make any kind of attempt to move, she just snuggled into his furry body. Soon they were both sleeping peacefully, quite comfortable on the hard, cold ground. The trio pulled each other into a tight embraced, each more than a little frightened by everything they had just witnessed. There was no way any of them were getting any sleep tonight. ~~~~~~ Pidge awoke with a start. She was still pressed up against Hunk, who was snoring quite loudly into the rafters. Lance was curled up on the other side, drooling quietly onto Hunk’s shirt. The arm that was slightly beneath the largest of the three was a little tingly. She flexed her fingers to get the blood flowing, yawning and stretching out the kinks. It was only then that she noticed the blankets dropped over the three of them. She could hear the crackle of a nearby fire, the wonderful smell of something cooking. Was it mushrooms? She slipped out from under the blanket, tucking it under Hunk as the big man continued to sleep. “Rough night?” She just about jumped out of her skin. Keith was sitting on a fallen log, poking at the fire with a long stick. A generous fry up of venison, some kind of tuber and, yes, mushrooms, threaded alternately on slender skewers, sizzled over the heat. Where the hell had he been all night? They really could have use his help with the Galra and the… She glanced around the clearing. The creature was gone, as was the woman. The bodies were nowhere in sight, but there was a mound of freshly dug earth. Had he buried them? “I got you some breakfast.” He gestured to the fire with his knife. He speared a piece of meat and offered it to the bird, perched quietly on his shoulder. She stopped preening her snowy feathers to nibble at the morsel. “Thanks.” She said as she sat down, reaching out to take one of his skewers. She chewed thoughtfully on her food, watching silently as he fed the bird. There was something so sweet about his interactions with the creature. He chuckled slightly as she tugged playfully at his dark hair. Her eyes widened. Dark hair…white feathers… White hair…dark mane… One missing all night… One mysteriously appearing only after the sun had set… Magic and weirdness and nightmarish happenings. “By all that’s holy.” She whispered. “Are you alright?” Keith frowned. She looked at him, at the bird perched on his shoulder, both staring back at her with strange, almost unreal eyes. His not quite grey, not quite blue, not quite violet but somehow all three at once. The bird’s in subtle, graduating shades of blue, from pale aqua to the deepest sapphire. “How long?” She asked. “What?” He frowned. “How long-” her eyes flicked quickly from one to the other “-have you two-” back and forth, back and forth “-been…” She trailed off. What was it exactly? She was a person of logic. She didn’t hold much faith in magic and monsters and that kind of thing. But she couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. “…cursed…?” She finished, her voice uncertain. Keith let out a nervous half-chuckle which cut off quickly. He looked away and she could tell he was trying to come up with some kind of explanation or denial. “What makes you think…” he began. “Oh, come on!” She snapped. “We meet you yesterday, in broad daylight, with a one of a kind white-feathered bird with strange blue eyes that you’re a little too protective of. You get really anxious just before sunset then disappear all night, when, coincidently a beautiful silver-haired woman with the same blue eyes appears and hangs out with a clearly very dangerous animal that’s not even indigenous to these parts who she very calmly states would never hurt her before curling up together for the night.” He just blinked, obviously stunned, the bird still playing with his hair in a mirror of the woman the previous evening. Pidge shrugged. “It’s not really that hard to figure out.” He looked away, absently stroking the bird’s feathers. “So how long has it been?” He sighed before looking back at her. His eyes were filled with such pain, sorrow and loss it almost made her want to cry. “How long is forever?” She looked away, uncertain of what to say, what to do. Should she say something comforting? Offer him a hug? She was saved by a sudden outburst from their, until then, slumbering companions. Blankets went flying as Lance sprang away from Hunk, embarrassed to find himself in such a compromising position. For his part Hunk sat up and scratched at the front of his shirt until he found the slobber patch and pulled a disgusted face. Lance’s calmed down somewhat when he noticed Keith. “Where the hell were you last night?!” He demanded as he stepped over the crumbling wall. “We could have been killed by that monster!” “You mean the monster that took down the Galra who probably did actually want to kill us?” Hunk queried as he rose to follow, drawn to the fire by the smell of breakfast. “If it wasn’t for that gorgeous woman who calmed it down it probably would have come after us as well.” Lance reasoned. “Where is she anyway?” He asked, running a hand through his hair in an effort to make himself look more presentable. “She was so into me.” The bird let out an indignant shriek and puffed out her feathers. Pidge covered her mouth to stifle her laugh, her eyes sliding to look at Keith to see a slight smile curl the corner of his mouth. “Please.” Hunk scoffed around a mouthful of food. “She was more interested in the manticore.” “It wasn’t a manticore, Hunk.” Pidge sighed. “Manticores aren’t real.” “What was it then?” Hunk asked. “It sure looked like a manticore.” “It was a lion.” Keith said. They all stopped eating to look at him. “Do you think I was gone ALL night.” He gestured to the ground. “And the tracks give it away.” “A lion?” Hunk echoed. “Aren’t they from…well…a long way away?” “Must have escaped Zarkon’s menagerie.” He shrugged. Pidge looked at him, considering his off-hand comment. It might not have been far from the truth. “You weren’t kidding when you said there were worse things out there than wolves.” Hunk looked towards the trees. “What about the woman?” Lance asked. “Did you see the woman?” “No.” Keith shook his head. “I didn’t see the woman.” He stood up suddenly, quickly enough to startle the bird on his shoulder. She spread her wings, shifting her weight to reposition herself. “Eat up.” He said. “That patrol will have been missed by now. They’ll be sending others to look for them. We best get moving.” He walked towards the ramshackle cottage. “I’ll get Palgan ready.”

[everykindofnerd13]

Home, Home Where Yoh Belong Pt.1

——————————————————————————

“Lance, leave me alone, I’m sick of you hovering.” Keith finally barked after twenty minutes of Lance trying to get Keith to take a break. The red paladin had been training non-stop for upwards of four hours, and it was starting to really stress Lance out. Even the strongest people shouldn’t exert themselves for such long periods of time, and Keith was probably the strongest person Lance knew.

“No, please, just, take a break, only fifteen minutes for all I care, I just want you to stop for a minute.” Lance pleaded, and he peeked up slightly when Keith finally called for the training sequence to end, but that all came crashing down when he saw the look on Keith’s face. He was seathing, eyes basically glaring daggers into Lances face. He swallowed.

“Lance, tell me something, am I your boyfriend?” He asked. Lance shook his head, “Alright, and I’m, am I your kid?” He asks, Lance shakes his head again, “Then, tell me, why the quiznak you are bothering me while I’m trying to train.” Even in his anger, Lance could easily see Keith’s exhaustion. There was no way that he was properly hydrated or nutritionalized. Lance swallowed.

“Because I care about you.” He answers, and to his disbelief, Keith rolls his eyes.

“Get out Lance.” He responds, pointing his bayard toward the door.

“No, not until you drink some water or eat some goo.” Keith’s glare intensified.

“Lance, just please, leave me the quiznak alone! I don’t need you hovering, trying to make sure I don’t pass out.” He says, voice harsh, and angry, but Lance didn’t back down.

“Why don’t you let me worry?” He asks, and Keith looks slightly shocked for half a second before he’s suddenly shouting.

“Look Lance, I know this may be hard for you to comprehend, but you’re not right about everything. You can’t just look at someone and know what they need or what they’re going through. I know you might think you do, cause you think you’re all high and mighty and stuff, but you’re not, you’re wrong, and you’re being really annoying right now, so if you could get out while I’m trying to train, that’d be great.” Lance could now feel his eyes begin to sting, but he held his ground.

“Keith, I’m just trying to keep you safe.” He tried, to no avail.

“I don’t need you to keep me safe, believe it or not I can take care of myself.” He was still shouting, and Lance flinched.

“I’m just trying to help.” He muttered, apparently loud enough for Keith to hear.

“I don’t need your help! In fact, I don’t need you at all!” Keith shouted, and Lance heard footsteps behind him but was glued to his spot a few feet away from Keith. “None of us do! You’re hovering is annoying and encroaching and if you just left us alone for a bit, maybe we’d be able to get stuff done, and your incessant nagging wouldn’t hold us back!” Lance could here the gasps from Hunk, Pisge and probably a few other people from behind him. But he ignored them.

“Well I’m sorry that the fact I care makes you feel that way, but y’see, yoh may not be able to comprehend this, but I’m a caring person. My parents raised me to always look out for my family, and right now I can’t be with them, I can’t look out for them, you all are my family right now! I need to make sure none of you get hurt so that I don’t feel guilty when it does happen!” Lance could feel the hot tears streaming down his face as he spoke, but he chose to ignore those too.

“And I’m sorry that you find the fact that I care incessant or nagging or annoying, but I can’t help it! It comes naturally to me! And if I can’t be down there! And have my siblings, and my mama, and my papa, and my abuela and my abuelo here to ground me, so I’m relying on all of you to keep me sane.” He turns around now, to face the rest of the team, “And I’m sorry if that annoys you all, I’ll stop, you don’t have to worry about me anymore, I’ll stay out of your way.” He pushes past them all, ignoring Pidge and Hunks calls and their grabs for his arms, he ignores Shiro’s angry shouting of criticism at Keith, and he definitely ignores it as Keith calls out for him as well. He’s completely focused on getting out that room, and possibly out of the castle, he just wanted to be away. He rushed to his room and grabbed a bag, beginning to stuff it full of extra clothes, some blankets, a pillow, his bayard, and his comm peice. He wasn’t leaving for good, but if it took a few days for him to calm down, he didn’t care. He took the comm in case they needed to fight, definitely not because he wanted to hear it if they needed him tomorrow.

When he opened his door, Pidge and Hunk were standing outside, worry stricken faces, but Lance ignored them again, still pushing, still crying, and took off toward the hanger, bag slung over his shoulder. Pidge and Hunk shared a glance before following,but wasn’t until they reached the hangar that Lance finally let them speak.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“What happened?”

“Ask Keith.”

“Where are you going?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, then he was hoisting himself up into his lion’s mouth and taking a seat in her pilots chair. She came to life when he sat and immediately asked a question.

Where are we going Lance?

“I don’t know.” He’d answered, then taken her controls and left the hangar. Once he was out, he went full blast away from the castle, only stopping after he was about four light years away, then activated her invisibility cloaking device. He finally, after an hour and twenty minutes of stress, leaned back, and took a breather, letting himself calm down and take in the situation. When he reached the peak of he and Keith’s argument, he began to cry again, avoiding sobs this time.

What troubles you blue paladin?

Blue asked, and Lance sighed, trying to regain his breath, to answer her with words but decided against it.

I got in a fight with Keith

I see, you got in a fight with your mate.

My mate, wh-wait no! Me and Keith are NOT a thing.

Are you sure about that? You sure act like his mate, always trying to keep him out of trouble, nurturing him, lecturing him, joking with him.

Lance rolled his eyes, but suddenly understood what his lion and Keith were saying. To most people, such excessive amounts of appreciation were intimate only in romantic relationships, but he was like that with everyone, raised from birth to love unconditionally.

You are troubled by this fight though? You and the Red Paladin fight often.

This was different, it wasn’t like our usual banter, he sounded genuinely angry.

Blue vibrated around him, and Lance recognizes it as a growl. He smiled at her protectiveness.

It’s fine Blue, I’m fine.

He tried to reassure her, but there was still a low rumble none the less.

What did he say Blue Paladin?

Lance pondered his answer, realizing how pathetic he must sound, upset because he was told he was annoying. It wasn’t the first time anyone had said that, it wasn’t even the first time someone who he cared about had said it. But Keith had said it with such malice and aggression that Lance couldn’t help but be upset. Not to mention, it’s been the first time his attempts at caretaking had been met with anger.

Nothing.

He decided to answer, and Blue growled again.

Fine fine, he called me annoying.

Well that’s nothing new Blue Paladin, people call you annoying all the time.

Yeah, but this time, it wasn’t because I was teasing him, or making fun of him, or anything like that. I was just trying to get him to take a break, drink some water, eat something, just prevent any kind of dangerous exhaustion, and he shouted at me.

There was another hum from blue, this one no longer a growl, but in understanding.

As expected from the Red Paladin. Rowat herself is quite aggressive when aggravated, when she feels coddled.

Lance’s brows furrowed.

Who’s Rowat?

That is the name of the Red lion.

Lances eyes widened.

“You guys have names!?” He shouted, this time out loud.

But of course, everything sentient has a name, did you really think we were just Blue, Green, Yellow, Black and Red?

Well, you never told us otherwise.

Well you never asked.

Lance huffed at his lion’s banter.

What’s your real name blue?

My true name is Blauwen

Wow. Well, hello Blauwen I guess?

Hello, Lance.

His heart fluttered when his lion called him by his name, but he quickly realised it was a return of the sentiment.

Are you okay with me calling you Blauwen?

I don’t prefer either Blue Paladin, but if you prefer I call you Lance, you should call me Blauwen.

Alright then, Blauwen, before the whole name thing, you said Red, or- Rowat is the same way?

Yes, Rowat is very similar, often pushing me away when I try to help her. She doesn’t want to feel helpless. After the loss of her last Paladin, and the fact that she is the smallest, Rowat grew cold toward us, or tried to be. The truth is, Rowat loves us lions, she is simply afraid to become attached again.

Suddenly everything by started to fall into place for Lance. Keith has just gotten out of a meeting with his mother when he went to the training wing, which probably meant that he was letting out pent up aggression from deep rooted abandonment issues. Of course someone who lost a family without a say or a reason would be afraid of losing. Then Shiro, and that kid James, who Lance could tell Keith was friends with back at the Garrison. This went a lot deeper than just Keith being a butthole.

But that didn’t make what Keith did any less wrong, they all had issues, he didn’t need to be taking out his on Lance when Lance was using a fairly healthy coping mechanism for his.

You’re right. Keith was wrong, but you have to forgive him.

I already have.

Then why are we still here?

I don’t want to talk to him, I don’t want to talk to anyone, if we go back, Hunk and Pidge will be all worried, and I can’t handle that, plus, what if he wasn’t lying, what if he was just finally letting out his true feelings.

That seems like a stretch.

Blauwen, my family isn’t like his, or yours, or any of theirs. We love eachother, unconditionally, we try to help wherever we can, and I can’t do that with them, so I’m doing it here, and I know it’s not like them, but that doesn’t make it any less loving. I’m not trying to annoy them, I’m just trying to protect them.

You know that I of all entities understand that, you’re my Paladin because we have similar values, I know what it is to be caring, nurturing, and loyal, even when others don’t deserve it yet. I know how it feels to have someone push away, just know, that doesn’t mean you’re alone.

I know I’m not alone.

Then should we head back.

Can we not?

Of course, do you mind I ask why?

I’m not ready to face any of them right now, even if they don’t hate me and how much I love them.

That’s fine, are you going to sleep now or are you going to mess with that bayard of yours?

I’m actually gonna see what I can do with the games pidge was able to download on your database.

Have fun Lance.

I’ll try Blauwen.

Then, Blue was purring, giving off her soft happy noises, and calming Lance. He did actually stay in space for the night, then for most of the next day, just talking to Blue and playing around with the games Pidge had downloaded. That was until suddenly, there was a ring on his comm system and he had to pause and stop his conversation with Blue.

He frowned when he saw that it was Keith on the other end of the call, but relented and answered when Blue let out a soft, purr-like growl.

“Hey.” He greeted.

“Where the quiznak are you?” Keith’s worried voice came over the intercom and Lance immediately perked up.

“Is there a battle? Do I need to get back, just give me five minutes, I’ll be there,” he began typing on Blue’s navigator, before she blocked it.

What the quiznak?

Listen.

“No Lance, there’s no battle, we’re just- I’m just worried about you.” Keith iterated, and Lance huffed annoyedly.

“You didn’t seem so worried yesterday.”

“God not you too, Shiro’s been lecturing me all day.”

“Maybe you deserved it, hothead.”

“Shut up, Blue Boy.”

“I’m not upset at that one actually so hah!”

“Whatever.”

They sat in silence for a good minute before Blue was growling again and Lance finally spoke up.

“What do you want Keith?” He asked, and was met by more silence.

“I want you to come back.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“Lance...”

“What do you care anyway, we both know I’ll just stay pent up in my room because what else would I do. You’re always on the training deck, Hunk and Pidge are always in the Lab, Shiro is always on the Observation Deck, and Allura and Coran are always in the control room. I have nothing better to do.”

Suddenly, there was a picture of Keith on his screen, looking dejected.

He can’t see you, but you can see him, I was able to make a connection with Rowat, Keith is our, he’s looking for us with Rowat, you’re giving Rowat anxiety by the way, keeping me here, she’s worried, she didn’t know where I went. It’s taken all the Blaisoir all the energy she has to keep Rowat from leaving.

Lance nodded in response.

Sorry.

It’s fine, I wanted to make sure you were safe, what with Keith on the castle and all.

What do you mean?

Well he is Galra.

Lance could hear himself growl at Blue’s implication.

He isn’t like that. He wouldn’t do something like that to us.

That was what Alfor thought about Zarkon.

Lance growled even louder.

“Watch it blue.” He said, out loud this time.

“What’s she saying?” Keith asked, clearly intrigued.

“Nothing of your concern.” Lance answered.

“Oh, okay... sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, but I’m also not coming back yet.”

“That’s fair, I wanted to apologize by the way.”

“What I said was not okay, and I know that you’re just doing it to feel better, and that you were trying to protect, it’s in your nature, you’ve been like that since day one, I just didn’t want to be coddled. It’s bad enough feeling vulnerable because of some stupid personal stuff, I didn’t want to look weak, but I realize pushing myself to the brink of death doesn’t show strength.”

“Oh yeah, definitely not, but I’m sorry for always trying to force myself into you guys, I know I can be overbearing, I’ve just always been this way.”

“Honestly, I never really minded, it’s just, yesterday, y’know with my mom. Everyone’s always treated me like some charity case because I don’t have parents, or I guess, because they didn’t want me...” Keith trailed off.

“Well, obviously Krolia did.”

“Yeah...”

“Anyway, what I was trying to say was, you’re affection isn’t annoying, or... unwanted, and it obviously doesn’t make the others crazy, I just, I’m used to people taking care of me because they feel a sense of responsibility to do so, and im sorry for saying those things cause they’re really not true and-“ Keith stopped and inhaled sharply, bringing the heels of his hands up to rub his eyes, and Lance could see when he pulled them back that teras had been forming there.

“You deserved better than what you got Keith. And I can’t completely blame you, and I’m not even upset anymore, but I’ll be honest, what you said really did cut deep, I guess I’m still a little upset because we all have issues, we all have something that makes us angry, but we have to use healthy coping mechanisms, and I just, I was trying really hard to use mine to help you.”

Keith sighed, “I know, I know. I know that you were just trying to help, but,” Blue growled again and Lance scolded her again, hushing her quickly, “I guess I should let you know that after those meetings with my mom, I really need you to just give me some space.” Blue’s growling picked up again, and the video connection cut off, meaning at least one of the lions got upset.

“I understand that, I’ll try not to be so... affectionate...” Lance compromised, and He heard Keith’s scared gasp.

“No! Please don’t stop! It really does help! Honestly, I don’t know what I do without you’re ridiculous affection.” Keith argues, and Lance feels his heart speed up.

“Okay, then I’ll try to be more subtle when you get out of meetings, just please, if I leave a water on a bench, drinking the quiznaking water.” Keith chuckles and it fills Lance’s heart.

“Okay, I’ll drink the water,” he huffed, “you gonna stay out there?” He asked, and Lance sighed himself. He didn’t think that he was up to dealing with Hunk and Pidge’s worry right now so he took in a breath before answering.

“Yeah, but, if you want, I’ll tell you my coords and you can come out here. I’ll turn off the cloaking device.” He hears Keith chuckle and gets offended for a moment.

“That’s probably why I can’t find you.” He said quietly. Lance felt a blush spread across his cheeks. He knew Blue had told him Keith was looking for him, but he became more flustered hearing him say it himself.

Flustered by your mate Lance~?

Hush Blauwen.

So you are?

I said hush!

“You- you were looking for me?” He asked.

“Well, honestly, if one of us went storming out of the castle without telling anyone where they were going after you had an aggressive outburst and it kinda dig into their personal issues, would you not rush to find them?” Lance blushed harder at Keith’s concern.

“I would have looked for you yesterday, had it not been for Shiro telling me to give you some space.”

“Something like, “He needs time to cool down Keith, hurt people don’t just heal immediately.” Keith laughed.

“That is exactly what he said.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard it enough before...” he heard something that sounded like a growl from Keith’s side of the call but decided to ignore it.

“What are your coords- wha!” Keith’s comm shut off and Lance panicked, getting ready to go look for him when Blue suddenly spoke.

Calm down Lance, I just told Rowat where we are, she’s just getting them here.

Why didn’t you just let me tell him.

I didn’t want your moment with your mate to be ruined.

For the last time, he’s not my-

Lance, people don’t just feel so deeply for someone as you do Keith, even someone who’s naturally affectionate. Plus, I would know.

Lance blushed at Blue’s reference to his crush on Keith.

You can’t read my thoughts Blauwen.

No, but we are just the same as alternate selves, I never said that I read your mind, I simply said I knew.

Lance’s brow furrowed at that, and sensing Lance’s confusion, there was a rumble of laughter.

Lance, Rowat is my mate.

Suddenly, reality dawned on him and he blushed harder.

There’s nothing to be ashamed of Lance, you’re allowed to have feelings believe it or not.

But, there’s no way he feels the same.

Oh my god, you are dense. The paladins are ALL the same to their lions as they are an alternate universe. Keith loves you.

So are you gonna tell me that Alfor was in love with the former blue Paladin.

No, they were only friends, but the lions evolve, so do their paladin’s relationships.

Alright, so then I have a question.

Go ahead.

Did Alfor and Zarkon have a thing.

Oh gods.

Just asking!

Well, you didn’t hear it from me, but Rowat told me that she and Blasoir saw more than they needed of those two. Though it was obviously never meant to be, considering Rowat and Blasoir never felt anything toward eachother and Alfor was still madly in love with Melenor. Not to mention Zarkon’s relationship with Honerva.

Haggar.

Of course.

Allura and Coran said that Honerva was good, it was the quintessence, that’s what made her into Haggar.

Y’know that she’s still Honerva underneath right?

Someone willing to suck the life out of hundreds of people isn’t good Blauwen.

I suppose you’re right.

It’s like her magic, we can’t revert those galra back to normal galra, they live from then on as monsters, and die monsters. Just like Haggar will.

If you asked me, all Galra are monsters to begin with.

Lance growled again.

No they’re not. Keith is a good person, and so is Krolia, and aside from their overly intense devotion to the mission, the Blade of Marmora are good too.

You’re right, I apologize Lance.

It’s fine Blauwen.

That’s where the conversation ended because Red approached Blue, and they nuzzled before Red opened her mouth. It was strange for Lance to realize, but Blue and Red did that every time they finished a battle too, they would nuzzle eachother. He blushed again, but was able to shake it off quickly as Blue opened her mouth then closed it and Keith was suddenly in the cockpit with Lance.

“Hi.” Keith greeted and Lance chuckled, and tore off his helmet, shaking out his growing hair, it wasn’t long, it wasn’t as short as the standard military cut his grandpa made him get every year. He definitely preferred this light, fluffy, and messy than to the short, stubbly and unfashionable buzz cut. Keith took off his helmet as well and pulled his hair out of a low ponytail before shaking it out as well and letting it fall to his shoulders. Lance’s heart sped up as Keith’s eyes landed on him again.

“Hey.” He greeted back. Suddenly, there was a lurch and Lance and Keith were both thrown into his chair by the force. At first, they thought it was an attack and began to panic, but then Lance quickly realised that Red had come around and curled up next to Blue, bumping her head into Blue’s chin, causing the boys to be jostled.

Even though he wished that the way they landed could’ve been something out of a movie, they were actually quite uncomfortable. Keith was half on top of Lance, half next to him, his left side in the chair and his right arm behind Lance, his right legs over Lance’s. Lance was only half way in his chair, his right leg swung over the armrest and his left arm also caught behind Keith. They both laughed as they scrambled to stand.

“Wh-what are they doing?” Keith asked, looking out through the windows to watch Red cuddling up to Blue. Lance felt a flood of guilt wash over him as Blue purred, loud and content to be with her mate he sighed to himself.

“What do you mean?” He asked, looking back to Keith.

“What are the lions doing, like, are they... cuddling?” He asked, and suddenly it clicked in Lance’s mind that he may not know that Red and Blue were mates.

You can tell him Lance.

That seems like an invasion of your privacy.

I don’t mind.

Lance’s eyes widened at the new voice, it was lower pitched, admittedly less regal than Blue’s but definitely more powerful. He then realized that it was Red talking to him.

Rowat.

Indeed.

That would also explain why it was slightly warbled, he wasn’t Red’s Paladin.

You know my true name?

Uh, yeah, but I can call you Red if you prefer.

No no, I just didn’t know Blauwen had gotten that close to you yet.

It was just yesterday. Sorry for taking her away, by the way, I was just stressed.

While it was frustrating, I could see it on your face, the aggravation, the guilt, the fear.

Uh...

Don’t make fun of him Row, you said Keith was practically shaking when he got to you this morning.

Lance blushed when they mentioned Keith, but tried to shake it off.

Fine.

There was another bump as Red nuzzled Blue again, and Keith and Lance were instead sent toppling to the floor. The soft hum of the lions’ purrs could be heard all around them as they sat in Blue’s cockpit.

Keith still looked kind of scared, but mostly intrigued.

“Uh, yeah.” Lance finally said, and Keith was suddenly looking at him.

“Yeah what?” He asked.

“Yeah, they’re cuddling. They’re mates.” He affirmed, pulling his knees to his chest. Keith looked slightly shocked at the information, then flushed.

“Oh...” he muttered, and Lance couldn’t help but smile behind his arms at Keith’s wonderous expression. Suddenly his face twisted up to definite dissappointment, and Lance could tell he was talking to Red because he was focused on nothing in particular but the gears in his head were obviously turning. Then Lance saw a massive blush spread across his cheeks and his smile widened, still behind his arms, at the soft expression of embarrassment on Keith’s face.

Don’t act smug, they’re talking about the alternate universe parallel stuff, you have nothing to be proud of mister.

Lance flushes too and buries his face further into his arms. Then slowly stood from his spot on the floor and opened his control panel. He tapped for a bit before finally finding the button that would allow the benches in the back to inflate into air mattresses, and extend further from the wall, easily making a king sized bed in the back of his lion. He’d convinced Pidge to make it for him, after a lot of persuasion of course, considering he wanted to leave out that he needed it for nights where sleeping alone in his room wasn’t exactly good for his mental health. The bed appeared and he grabbed his bag, pulling out some extra sheets, and stretching them across the bed before pulling out the blankets and pillow he’d brought along. He made the bed nicely then sighed in content as he looked at it. He then reached under his pilots chair and pulled out a pillow, placing it alongside the one he brought with him.

When he turned back around, Keith was staring, in complete disbelief.

“You do this often Loverboy?” He asked, and Lance’s face lit up hearing the nickname on his crush’s tongue.

“Only when being alone gets too much.” He says truthfully, which obviously catches Keith off guard.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Does that happen... often?” He asked, and Lance shrugged. I dunno, but I bet Blue does.

“Hey Blauwen, how often do I come in here to sleep at night?” Blue purrs in response, then he voice is in his head.

Give me a moment to calculate that Lance, and then she’s quiet again, but Keith looks shocked. Lance turns to look at him, and Lance can tell that Blue must have been in his head too.

My database says, 9-10 times a month. Or more accurately, 2-3 times a week. Then Keith’s eyes widen and he’s tearing back to look at Lance.

“2 to 3 times a week!?” He shouts, and Lance flinches, the immediate guilt that washes over Keith’s face makes Lance’s stomach lurch and he stumbles back to sit on his bed.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout, I guess I’m just sorta upset that you sleep in the hangar half the week.” Lance sighed and patted the spot on the bed next to him. Keith quickly obliged and rushed to have a seat next to Lance. Lance sighed, and prepared to pour his heart out.

“Okay, so you obviously know after yesterday, that I have a really affectionate family, we’ve always looked out for eachother, and that because, we all also love together, well, at least we did when I left. I don’t know if Camila and Jacob still live with my parents, but even if they don’t, I hope they’re close. Mariana and Mateo, my niece and nephew, we were best friends, we would always play with Andromeda and Achilles, my two Great Danes, in the back yard. Mariana always wanted to play royal family, but Mateo always wanted to play wizard guild, so I made a compromise with them, that we could royal mates, and they were both happy. They were 6 years old when I left for the Garrison, so when we got here, they were probably 9... Now... they’re probably 11 by now. Mateo was always really smart, always ready to pick up a book and read it to me. I remember the first book he ever read to me was Ferdinand the Bull. He was 5 years old. And Mariana, she definitely took after Camila, because she loved art. She could always be found coloring stuff on the table and once on her bed, but she usually stuck to paper. Just before I left for the Garrison for the first time, Mariana gave me a picture.” Lance grabbed for his jacket, discarded on the ground next to him. He pulled out an obviously old peice of paper and began unfolding it. “Here,” Lance handed Keith the picture, Keith’s face broke out in a warm smile. It was of Lance, obviously, Keith would never not recognize his tan skin and brown hair, and bright blue eyes. Next to him, were two kids, one a girl and one a boy, and two dogs. He looked back at Lance as he folded it back up.

“Tell me more, about them I mean,” Lance’s uneasy expression broke out into a smile, and he scooted back on his bed to lean against the wall.

“Well, there’s 7 bedrooms in my family’s farmhouse. I know, it’s crazy, and what makes it worse is that there are three rooms with private bathrooms but those belonged to the happy couples, so the two extra bathrooms were for me, my two brothers, Adrian and Damien, Mateo and Mariana to share. So basically, there’s a 14 year old, a 16 year old, an 18 year old, and two 6 year olds trying to work with just two bathrooms, and let’s say it’s a bit chaotic. Now, you may think, that because there’s so many rooms in my house, each of my brothers and I got our own rooms, but no, my mama is big on hospitality, so we have a guest room and a home office. No, I shared a room with my rude older brothers, Adrian and Damien. Luckily enough for me, when I was twelve, and Adrian was 16, he convinced Mama to let him stay in the barn loft, which actually worked, so now, or I guess... then... it was just Damien and I in one room,” Lance tensed, he loved his family, and talking about them made his heart skip, but thinking about them too much made his heart ache. Keith placed a warm hand on his knee and squeezed.

“If you wanna stop, you can.” He reassured Lance but he shook his head.

“No, I’m fine, just, I don’t know how long it’s been, I haven’t let Pidge tell me how long we’ve been up here, but I know it’s been months, at least a year, and they have no idea where I am. And, well I know that they’re mourning me, but at the same time, I don’t really know, so for all I know they think I abandoned them. God, I love them so much, the thought of never seeing them again is really what my boosts my confidence up here.” Keith nodded and pulled his knees up to his chest then he lays his head on them and wraps his arms around them and looks at Lance, obviously waiting to hear more.

“Adrian and Damien, my older brothers, they’re both the best and the worst people I’ve ever met, because they’re my older brothers, so of course they pulled pranks on me, made of fun of me, all that jazz, but I remember when I was still in middle school, and they went to the public highschool, I had a few issues with some other guys out front of my school at the end of the day. The highschool and the middle school were right next to eachother, and the highschool’s classes let out early so my brothers would always come down and meet me outside my school, and of course, that day was no different, Adrian ended up calling the authorities on the kid while Damien tried to get some of the swelling in my eye to go down with an ice pack from the gas station because my uncle actually owned it. I think that was my favorite part of living where I did, everyone knew everyone.” Lance sighed contentedly and pulled at his fuzzy blue blanket, pulling it up to his hips, then offering the other side to Keith, who quickly obliged, shimmying under the blanket until it was to his waist.

“That sounds... amazing.” Lance turned to smile at Keith, not sadly, but knowingly. Keith has grown up without anything Lance ever had, but he was still here standing and Lance didn’t think he would be.

“It is,” he confirmed, “My family’s farm was built right on the beach by my Bisabuelo, or, my great grandpa. He built the house from the ground up with his brothers and sisters, and that’s why there are 7 bedrooms. But yeah, out front, on the beautiful white porch my mama paints every year there is one wall that’s now a faded blue, rather than the yellow my mother prefers, but that’s because, every family member that has ever lived in that house carved their initials on that wall. For the ones born there, it’s on their tenth birthday, I remember being so excited about that day. Because along with my initials, I also got my own pocket knife from my abuelo. I was ecstatic, I’m glad I decided to leave it at home though...” Keith nodded along to Lance’s stories, still completely mesmerized by his glowing smile.

Turn on the invisibility cloak, both of you, I think I’ll stay here too, and alert Shiro, we won’t be back until Lance is ready, but we’re fine.

Yes, Keith

Thank you, Rowat.

“For people who move in with us, we prefer that do it when they move in, but for a few, they do it when they feel at home. Which has never taken more than a few weeks. That guest room never stayed a guest room for long, it became a bedroom for a lot of people. I’ll never forget any of them.” Lance explained, and Keith was still listening, smiling at the blue Paladin as he spoke so adoringly of his family.

“Y’know, you could always come back to my place when we get back. My parents would be so excited to meet you, they’re always excited to meet someone I care about, they’re good people like that.” Keith blushed at Lance’s suggestion.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude...” he muttered, then suddenly he was facing Lance as the taller boy grabbed his chin to face him, “Believe me, we’ve had a lot worse people than snarky samurai be welcomed into our home, you don’t even have to worry.” Keith chuckled at the nickname. Then sighed.

“Your family sounds amazing Lance, I can only imagine growing up somewhere like that, with people like that... You have such a big family too, I would kill to be part of that.” Keith explained.

“You don’t have to.” Keith glanced over at Lance, confused, and even though he felt a blush growing on his cheeks Lance continued, “You don’t have to kill to be part of my family, or well, I guess only if necessary to get back to earth, but you don’t have to do anything, there are no requirements in my family. You don’t have to be blood, you don’t have to be married, you don’t have to wait on my parents hand and foot, you just have to care enough to want to be with them, with us, and we’ll care about you back, because that’s what we do.” Lance was bright red, and so was Keith, but Keith nodded.

“Okay...”

“Bueno,”

“Alright...”

“Hermoso,”

“Hm?”

“What?”

“What did you say?”

“Oh, Hermoso,”

“What does that mean?”