#voltron legendary cryptid

[cryptidseeker]

Lance is a good swimmer, it’s established. what does it mean in terms of space? that he has better coordination in antigravity than the rest of the team. period

[vldsideblog]

Keith and Pidge are absolutely besties.

They are the ultimate introvert alliance, they are both autistic, they both like cryptids. Their older brothers are best friends. They are small but deadly. They can both Hotwire a car in under fifteen seconds. They watch old alien documentary’s together and laugh at the inaccuracies.

I love them

[cometblaster2070]

ik watching voltron would be worth it

[rubymoon-snape]

Chapter Disclaimer: I don't own the supernatural creatures listed in the beginning

Summary: Vampire Keith turns an of age Pidge. 

Author Note: This is Kidge with vampire Keith and of age Pidge and was requested by Cmdr_fil.

"A Turn of Events"

Keith never thought he would ever turn someone, especially since he didn't even drink from people. He usually frequented a local blood bank that was friendly to supernatural beings that required blood like vampires, iimpundulu, asema, and the strigoi. Just like vampires, there were some blood sucking creatures that preferred not to take from people. Keith had met a few in passing when he started going to the blood bank. (He even saw a chupacabra once!)

That night started like every other night with Keith waking up and heading to the blood bank. Once he obtained his bag of blood, which he drank there, he normally would take a walk in the city, before going back home. However, he found himself at a park entrance. He cautiously made his way into the park, unsure of what led him there.

There was a smell that wafted over to Keith. He recognized it and relaxed slightly with a small smile on his face. It was his girlfriend, Katie. He had met her online under the name of Pidge on a cryptid website. She was passionate about her beliefs, which initially drew Keith to her. He knew beings that had lived for centuries that didn't have the enthusiasm of an eighteen-year-old tech wiz.

It had been a gamble telling and later showing Katie what he was, but it paid off as she didn't shun him. She got to know him and he her, which involved evening dates. However, it wasn't supposed to be that night, which put Keith slightly on edge. Why was Katie there?

He was about to call out to her when he caught the scent of something he hadn't immediately identified. His eyes narrowed as the scent seemed to be following Katie like it was stalking her. Keith tensed as he was worried about his girlfriend's safety as he finally identified the scent. It was the scent of a fellow blood drinker, a jiangshi.

He was so focused on the jiangshi that he almost didn't catch the scent of the hiding sasabonsam. He tensed as Katie unknowingly walked under the tree the sasabonsam was hiding in.

%%%

Katie hadn't originally had the night off from work, but she worked a shift during the day, so her boss let her have the night off, and she figured she might surprise Keith. She never thought she'd fall for a vampire, but maybe she wasn't entirely surprised. She was passionate about the existence of cryptids, which some people don't believe vampires were a part of. Katie wasn't one of them and was elated to have the knowledge of their existence. She was a lover of knowledge and the process of learning. She always wished she could have the time to learn more.

Cutting across the park was supposed to be a shortcut, and it turned out to be a misstep. She didn't have the enhanced senses her boyfriend did, so she didn't notice either of the blood suckers that closed in on her and eventually attacked.

The sasabonsam jumped down on top of her, and not wasting any time in plunging its iron fangs into the junction between her left shoulder and neck. Katie screamed in shock and pain but was still aware of a thump-thump-thump sound she had somehow not noticed before. A second set of fangs sinking into the other side of her neck wrenched another scream from the teenager.

%%%

Katie's screams enraged Keith, who immediately jumped into action. He grabbed the sasabonsam and ripped its wings off one at a time and snapped its neck with hardly any trouble. He turned to the jiangshi, grabbing it by its hair, which ripped off the decomposing creature. This incensed the raven-haired vampire more and managed to wrap his hand around its neck and tear it away from Katie. He crushed its throat, snapping its neck in one motion.

A wheezing sound caught his attention, hi dropping the dead jiangshi as he turned back to the mortally wounded Katie. He dropped to his knees as his eyes roved over her injuries. The level of emotion in his eyes told Katie that Keith knew what she had already figured out. She was dying.

"At...least...I got...to see you...again," Katie rasped.

Keith gently dragged his cold fingertips down her face in a caress. "I don't want you to leave me."

"We...can't...help that."

"Katie." There was a pause before Keith continued. "If..."

"If...?"

"What about if I turn you?"

"Yes."

The certainty in Katie's voice startled Keith. It hadn't taken her any time in responding to his query. Had she even thought about the ramifications of being turned or was she terrified of death? No, his girlfriend wasn't terrified of dying. Not much terrified her (except for running out of peanut butter).

"Are you sure?"

"Just do it." Katie closed her eyes.

Keith let out a deep breath, more to steady himself than out of any actual necessity, in order to collect his thoughts. He leaned over and as gently as he could slipped his fangs into an unblemished section of Katie's neck.

The gasp that escaped the teen almost caused Keith to dislodge his fangs, but he stayed put. Turning someone wasn't something done light or quickly. The transfer of blood was vital but had to be done in exact timing and sequence or it could end up killing the human. As Katie was dying, it seemed worth it.

After Keith had drank from her for three minutes, he pulled back. He licked his fangs clean as he counted silently to five before digging one of his nails into the opposite wrist. Once he created an opening, he positioned his wrist in front of Katie's mouth, urging her to drink a little.

"Just a mouthful, Katie. Please."

Katie managed to get a mouthful before Keith's wrist healed itself. She swallowed, gagging slightly at the taste of the blood, and minutes later, her body started convulsing. Keith managed to keep ahold of her so she didn't hit her head on the ground as her body changed.

Her skin gradually lost what little color she had to begin with, and Keith could feel her warmth fading as well. He could feel her breathing slow hear and feel her heartbeat diminish.

As he watched his girlfriend change into a vampire, Keith started to worry that she would be angry with him for turning her. He knew it was the only way to save her life and that she agreed to it, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be angry at him. Katie was scary on a regular night; Keith was sure he didn't want to face an angry Katie on this particular night.

%%%

While Keith was noticing the changes his girlfriend was going under, said girlfriend was experiencing the worst pain in her life. Every time she thought she was feeling the worst pain in her life, she was proven wrong. She thought having a long splinter being removed from her foot without anesthesia was bad, but then she broke her arm. She had thought /that/ was bad, but then she was hit with debilitating cramps during her monthly cycles. However, she was fairly certain she was experiencing the worst pain ever.

It had started all at once. There was a tightening in her chest like she couldn't catch her breath. The tightening spread to her extremities, the pressure increasing the longer it went on. Then, just when it seemed like her bones would crack under the pressure, it disappeared, only to be replaced by waves of pain. She couldn't place where it had started, only that she was engulfed in a matter of seconds. That was when she started convulsing. She was vaguely aware of Keith's arms holding her, glad he was there with her, but her thoughts were consumed by even more pain followed by an immense coldness that was so cold it burned. Katie wasn't sure if she could handle any more pain, when it suddenly stopped, and she ceased convulsing. Then, her body went extremely rigid, not even a muscle could twitch. Katie wanted to scream, but she couldn't even open her mouth. Then, everything went black.

The next thing she was aware of was the sensation of a hand running through her short hair. She managed to open her eyes, which landed on Keith, who looked...apprehensive? Katie wasn't sure that was the right word, but it was as close as she would get without knowing what was wrong.

"Keith?"

"Katie, how do you feel?" Keith helped her sit up.

"Sore, honestly...and the park seems different."

"The soreness will fade, and the differences are due to your senses being enhanced."

Keith's answers seemed almost hesitant. "Keith, what's wrong?"

"Are-are you angry with me?"

"What? Why would you think that?"

"Because I turned you."

"I'm not angry. After all, I did agree to it."

"But, why?"

"You know I've always had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and never had enough time to learn everything I wanted to and now, I do! Plus I can even experience the changes the future holds. Imagine the advances in technology!"

Keith couldn't help but chuckle at Katie's excitement over new tech. Neither of them had even considered this turn of events happening, but now that it had, both were looking forward to their future together.

Fin

@cmdr-fil

[arson-is-the-answer]

i just want to know who in the holy hell of the voltron fandom came up with the hc that keith is a cryptid geek??? now whenever i think of mothman mr kogane invades the most private parts of my mind

[badsongpetey]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Part 5

Keith is smirking at him, so Lance clears his throat and tries again. “I came back, yes.”

Keith cocks his head slightly. “Why?”

“Wha… Why?! Seriously?!”

Keith furrows his brow and folds his arms over his chest, looking serious, and adorable, shut UP brain. “Nobody ever comes back. Why did you?”

Lance sputters out a disbelieving laugh, “Because…” he gestures aggressively at all of Keith.

Keith’s frown deepens as he looks around himself trying to see what Lance is indicating. Ok, I’ve got myself a beautiful idiot, I’ve worked with less Lance muses.

“YOU!!” Lance yells loud enough that Keith startles and some birds fly out of the trees above them. “Um, ah, I came back because of you… I guess.”

“You… weren’t scared?” Keith asks.

“Of you? Oh you betcha. You were terrifying.” Lance affirms.

At this news Keith stands a bit taller, puffing out his chest. “I protect my water from all intruders.”

“Your water?” Lance jerks his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the waterfall.

Keith nods. “I protect it and all life that lives near its flow, and in turn it sustains me.”

Lance isn’t 100% sure what that means, but he’s about 78%, so he nods slowly back. “And me and Hunk… I just barged on in. I… I’m sorry.”

Keith squints at Lance as if trying to parse out his meaning, then looks away. “Okay.”

Lance resists the urge to prompt the cryptid on how to graciously accept an apology, the guy clearly doesn’t get out much. “You didn’t hurt me, us, though.”

Keith cocks his head at this. 

“You said you protect this waterfall, but you didn’t try to hurt me.” Lance elaborates.

Keith snorts. “You weren’t a threat.” He deadpans.

Lance huffs, offended. “I’ll have you know that I am MORE than capable of being a threat.” Keith snorts again. “I just have manners.” Lance sniffs.

“Which is why you threw yourself into MY waterfall.” Keith retorts.

“Well, that’s… I… I mean, it’s not like there were any “no trespassing” signs or anything! Like who the hell would think that there’s a…” he gestures emphatically at Keith again, “a… a… YOU in there!! What are you anyways?” Okay, that last question was a bit blunt, but he’s flustered and this Keith is growing more annoying than frightening by the second.

“I’m a Water Dragon.” Keith’s response interrupts Lance’s internal monologue.

“You’re a dragon?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re furry.”

“Yes.”

“But dragons aren’t furry! They’re scaly, and have horns and wings and live in caves filled with treasure!” Lance waves in hands in a “clearly I’m a sane person” sort of fashion.

Keith scoffs, “Please, tell me more about dragons.”

Maybe it’s Keith’s disdainful expression, or maybe it’s because his idiot brain finally reminds him that he’s not talking to some dude in the woods, and is actually having a conversation with a cryptid, and doesn’t actually have the authority to tell Keith what he is or is not, but Lance decides arguing with the “dragon” probably isn’t his best move.

“Sorry.” Lance mutters, then sighs. “You’re just not like any dragons I’ve read about.”

“Clearly.”

“Hey! I said I was sorry, okay?” Lance snaps.

Keith glowers at him, mouth fixed in a hard line. Lance winces, no matter how irritating Keith is, and he definitely is, if Lance doesn’t watch it, he WILL get eaten.

They stand facing each other in silence, neither willing to give in, until Lance can’t stand it anymore.

“Well, sorry for intruding.” He grabs his backpack and turns to leave, “I’ll just get out of here now.”

Lance gets about five steps before… 

“Are you coming back?”

He turns to see Keith glaring fiercely at the ground and clenching his fists.

“I promise I won’t. And I won’t tell anyone else. You don’t have to worry.” Lance assures with more bitterness than he intended.

Keith’s expression darkens and Lance turns to go.

“I WANT YOU TO COME BACK!”

Lance stops and spins on his heel. “What??”

Keith is making possibly the most frustrated face Lance has ever seen another being make, and slowly, PAINFULLY, repeats himself. “I want you to come back.”

Now it’s Lance’s turn to blink mutely.

“Never mind.” Keith huffs angrily, “I don’t know…”

“I’ll come back.”

Keith’s head snaps up so fast he has to have pulled something.

“I’ll come back.” Lance isn’t sure what he’s doing, but he knows himself well enough to know that he can’t walk away from this. If nothing else, he’ll have some unbeatable bragging rights.

Keith’s back to finding the ground completely fascinating as he mutters a barely audible, “okay.”

“Okay.” Lance agrees only briefly considering the vast multitude of ways he might be crazy.

-------

I realized that this got a bit longer than I intended and posted it all on A03. Also there wasn't anything interesting to draw from this part, so the art is from part 6 :)

[lilcatastrophe]

hello !

about time I make a lil pinned intro post huh. this blog is definatly not nearly two years old

let's get started 🛸🪐

hey my names Kay (though currently playing around with the name Akira so feel free to use that too) i'm 18 and use he/they pronouns

I'm just here to screw around and throw my art at whoever'll have it

I do mostly digital fanart here though I may post some traditional/original stuff too if I'm feelin spontaneous

⭐ I don't take commissions but I'll gladly accept drawing requests y'all have, within reason ofc. I'll let you know if i accept or not. just DM me or send an ask, though basically no nsfw, gore, racism, queerphobia, general creep shit, etc.

⭐️ I’m open to art trades and collabs, just drop me a dm if you wanna do one with me

⭐️ you can use my stuff as headers, pfps, etc as long as it’s personal use and credited

while i do just draw whatever characters n franchises i love, i do do mostly vld stuff (its got me in a chokehold, im not sorry)

while tumblr is my main platform, I do have two instagram accounts as well - littlecatastrophe_art which has basically the same stuff as here but only finished pieces and traditional_catastrophe for my traditional art

some things I love (in no particular order)

voltron legendary defender

pokemon (games mostly)

schitts creek (biggest comfort show fr)

punk, rock and metal music + their subgenres

animal documentaries and encyclopedias

every animal and creature ever

dungeon meshi

playing the drums

cryptids

genshin impact

plants

black coffee

ATLA

animated shows and movies

art (duh)

the colour red

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Ten Years

Today is the 10th anniversary of the series premiere of Alex Hirsch’s Gravity Falls on the Disney Channel.

Gravity Falls was a harbinger; it was Disney shaking itself out of its post-Kim Possible doldrums and staking out a bold vision of creator-driven all-ages animated TV series. Legend of Korra was airing at the same time over on Nickelodeon (yeah, Korra is also ten years old; it premiered a couple months prior) but Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon had all seriously ebbed back from their mid-aughts creative peaks and were sort of coasting on cheap, lousy, live-action programming, or shows that could be charming and were huge moneymakers, but made NO demands of their audience, such as Teen Titans Go! It’s not that they had nothing going on (Phineas and Ferb was airing) but it was slim pickings.

Gravity Falls would change that. In two seasons over four years it established itself as a critical, cultural, and financial sensation. Disney would follow this up with the flawed-but-still great Star vs. the Forces of Evil, the thoroughly entertaining Wander Over Yonder, the complete tour-de-force of Amphibia, and the tragically cut-short The Owl House.

All of those shows with the possible exception of Wander Over Yonder are loosely serialized creator-helmed YA shows that are invested and dripping with passion and relevance.

Gravity Falls is simultaneously a cryptid-of-the-week show about a zany sideshow attraction AND a show about the uplifting nature of even a flawed family.

Star vs. the Forces of Evil begins as a show about a magical princess from another dimension going to high school and getting into fights with the head cheerleader; it ends with an all-out civil war between people seeking to abolish a corrupt authoritarian order and fascist racists who object to all the race-mixing going on these days. A major plot point is that there’s a grand conspiracy to overthrow and erase from history an entire branch of the ruling family because the Queen boned someone from the wrong race and had a halfie kid, and the powers that be can’t have that.

Wander Over Yonder brought the same joy and whimsy we got from the Powerpuff Girls or Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends to a sci-fit setting straight out of Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century, brought to life by Jack McBrayers superb voice acting.

Amphibia and the Owl House are isekais (the anime term for “trapped in another word” series) that take what has become the most played-out genre in Japan and rebuilds it with all the strengths, all the verve, of western animators who grew up looking at the tropes and decided “I can marry this to an American sensibility and then do it better. Both shows utterly thrive on building a huge cast of interlinked characters and exploring the interiority of their lives en route to some pretty massive cosmic shit.

These are not shows you plop kids in front of to get them out of the way; these are the very definition of shows you watch and enjoy as a family. And they all had that “created by” note in their opening credits; Alex Hirsch, Daron Nefcy, Craig McCracken, Matt Braly, and Dana Terrace. One could argue that this era of shows is directly or indirectly responsible for spurring Netflix’ own forays into this kind of animation; Voltron: Legendary Defender and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power are cut from the same cloth.

This era may, sadly, be coming to an end. The Owl House is being cut down in its prime because Disney is pivoting away from serialized content of this nature; they want more “fun, bite-sized school hijinks” and less “adorable lesbians fight the evil empire.“ They don’t want a show people get into shipping wars on twitter over; they want Baymax.

This past decade and these shows will create and inspire a whole new generation of animators. Just as the people making these shows all came up under late-90s, early-aughts classic anime and cartoon series (Teen Titans, Reboot, Gargoyles, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Kim Possible, that sort of thing) the work they’ve done will launch into the future the great animated series of the 2030s. Somewhere an twelve-year-old boy is watching The Owl House; in 2035 he will be given a contract for his own show by a producer who in 2012 was a ten-year-old girl watching Gravity Falls.

So happy anniversary, Gravity Falls. You’ve made a lot of folks very happy.

[kincalling]

I know this is a long shot but I am a fictive of Keith Kogane from Voltron Legendary Defender and I miss my team so much. I have already found Lance and Hunk but I would love to find Pidge and Shiro too! I remember most of us being polyam or QPPS and just generally very close. I also remember looking more and more nonhuman as time went on and acting more catlike. I'm 19 but the body is 21+ so adults only please, interact with this post or message kittens-and-cryptids on Tumblr if you're looking for your Keith!

🐛

[eldritchdemonfox]

Hi, and welcome to my corner of Tumblr!

Feel free to send me asks! Art prompts, question for/about my OCs, questions about my AUs, or even just whatever are all welcome! RP asks are encouraged. Multifandom crossovers are welcome. My current hyperfixations are on: Five Nights At Freddy’s , Slimecicle, Dinosaurs/Jurassic Park, Cryptids, Voltron: Legendary Defenders, 17776/20020, The Sandman universe, Ghostbusters, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Hatsune Miku, Trese, horror video games, Resident Evil, the X-Files, and Steven Universe. My heros are: Neil Gaiman, Will Wood, Team StarKid, Smosh, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Brian David Gilbert, Markiplier, and Tom Cardy. I rotate this handful of stuff around in my brain 24/7 all the time help.

I run a few different side blogs, including: @polaris-the-star, @evil-therapist, @character-selecton, @definitely-spencers-gifts, @labyrinth-slenderman, @poorwayfaringstranger, @archive-of-important-lists, @acatnamedsalad, and @reassurance-bucket-everyday

If you are new to my blog, make sure to check out my bio:

RP/Lore Masterpost:

Tags List:

#fox draws - all my art, both digital and traditional

#fox's rambles -shit I say lol

#fox made memes - stupid memes I made on imgflip

#fox cosplays - my cosplay photos

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#lore post - any lore related to my OCs/Roleplays

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Proud Maggot

DNI:

transphobes/terfs/farts/radfems (looking at you staff/photomatt), homophobes, lgbtq+phobic ppl, racists, pro trump, pro life, xenophobes, islamophobes, anti-semetic/nazi, proship (elaboration), pro-censorship, pedos/MAPS, ableist, sexist/misogynistic, bigots, rapists, dream stans, jkr fans, people who support "purity culture", proselytizing blogs, zionists, arophobes, acephobes, radqueers, Wilbur soot/will Gold fans, or people who try to support/downplay the genocide of Palestinians If i see any of this shit i will block you so don't even try it /srs.

Also dni: casual-mitosis-collective and sideblogs. If anyone is curious why, dm me. But the short of it is, I don’t feel safe around someone who threatens other people and me with harassment because they were mad at the bereaved person I was comforting.

Old Profile pic by Benzon Q on discord

[ao3feedsheith]

hellion

hellion https://archiveofourown.org/works/41906961 by voidslantern In an empire built on lies and blood of innocents, rebellion takes hold. A demon clad in a cloak of darkness, claw-tipped fingers closed around a pale throat of a boy who fell in love with him and would fight for him until the end of the world. Are they enough? Can the demon still be saved? Can the boy find himself in the depths of war and longing? Words: 3658, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: M/M Characters: Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Sendak (Voltron) Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Strangers to Lovers, but they have to work on it, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Cryptid Shiro, Keith has a size kink, Rebellion, War, Violence, Magic, Dark Magic, Eventual Smut, Assassination via AO3 works tagged 'Keith/Shiro (Voltron)' https://archiveofourown.org September 24, 2022 at 08:28AM

[cryptidseeker]

Keith Kogane has a System for washing clothes, like which one goes with which one and what detergent to use with some particular ones, but following it is impractical most of the time so he just shoves all dirty clothes in and hopes for the best

[vldsideblog]

Even more Keith headcannons because my health is getting even worse

- if he feels safe, he can fall asleep literally anywhere

- if you can’t find him, it’s very likely he’s just chilling on a roof somewhere

- he was the type of kid to eat bugs off the ground

- he used to bite people as a kid and since he has sharp teeth he’s caused a lot of damage

- he can see really well in the dark and so he never really bothers to turn lights on. The amount of times Shiro and Adam have found him cooking in the middle of the night in the dark is astounding

- can drive anything, you give him a set of controls and he will figure it out in seconds

- one time he refused to eat anything but animal crackers for two straight weeks, Shiro was so done

- since he grew up in the desert he never learned how to swim. He never mentioned this to anyone and one time he went to the lake with Shiro and Adam and almost drowned

- he chews on his lip a lot and since his teeth are so sharp it’s a miracle he hasn’t bitten through them

- if you wake him up you will end up with a knife to your throat, it’s a reflex and I can’t be stopped

- plays the knife game when he gets bored and has almost given Shiro multiple heart attacks

- if you leave him alone for a second he will wander off, Shiro learned this the hard way it involved an alligator, a tree, and Keith getting a new tooth to add to his collection

- he gets sensory overload very easily, he will start mumbling and get ready irritated, just get him some headphones and turn the lights off and he’ll feel better

- has a very high pain tolerance and Shiro has had to drag him kicking and screaming to the nurses office on multiple occasions for a broken bone he said “wasn’t a big deal”

[ao3-feed-shadam]

Of Road Trips And Cryptid Hunting

by Dapperenby137

The long rundown road ahead of them was empty as no-one else seemed to be either dumb or desperate enough to drive twenty-three hours from the Chihuahuan desert to Point Pleasant West Virginia. But it had been 106 degrees for two straight weeks and Shiro could feel his brain melting in the sweltering heat.

 Keith, Shiro, Adam and Matt, go to point pleasant West Virginia to see all the Mothman related history, Keith wants to actually see Mothman.

Words: 2360, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt, Adam (Voltron)

Relationships: Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Matt Holt & Keith, Adam/Shiro (Voltron)

Additional Tags: broganes, Road Trips, Mothman, Fluff, Very minimal angst, Autistic Keith (Voltron), autistic Matt holt, Keith (Voltron) Has ADHD, Supportive Shiro (Voltron), Big brother Shiro, adam is a vibe, Galra Keith (Voltron), he doesn’t know it yet but it’s there

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46791106

[badsongpetey]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

The Water Guardian: Part 6

The question wasn’t would Lance come back, it was simply how soon. How soon turned out to be very not soon enough in Lance’s considerable estimation. School, work, and family obligations conspired upon him in a clearly targeted and evil scheme to keep him from gaining internet fame through an exclusive friendship with a reclusive cryptid. All of which led to Lance standing by Keith’s pool nearly two weeks after his last visit.

It’s just as beautiful and serene as the first time he saw it: water splashing gently down the rocks; birds and frogs chirping their songs; trees rustling in a gentle breeze. The kind of place that could instantly relax a person — that is if the person weren’t a Lance person currently standing around waiting on a very conspicuously absent dragon.

“Um, Keith?” Lance hesitantly asks the forest. He feels like an idiot. If there were any other people around he’d die of embarrassment, but fortunately or not, he seems to be completely alone.

Is Keith here? Is Keith even its name? Keith seemed like a pretty bland name for a cryptid, maybe he’d heard it wrong. Maybe it was really like “Kyitth” or something more magical, and now he was offending the dragon by mispronouncing it. Or maybe he really had been poisoned by contaminated pond water and had hallucinated the entire exchange. The longer he stands there, the more he worries. Dammit Hunk, why weren’t you faster getting out that test kit? Sure, yeah, maybe he could’ve waited to dive in…

“You’re late.”

Lance spins to see Keith up to his chest in the water, glaring daggers at him.

“Whoa, dude, maybe give a guy a head’s up or something before popping up outta nowhere?” Lance only half jokes, trying to cover for the near heart attack he just experienced.

“You’re late.”

Lance huffs, “Look, we didn’t exactly put this little get together in our calendars or anything. Things were crazy, I came back as soon as I could.”

In response Keith sinks up to his nose in the water, and squints with ferocity in Lance’s direction.

“I really tried.” Lance throws his hands up in the air in exasperation, how did he forget how annoying Keith is? “I TRIED. I was BUSY. But, look, I’m here. I came back. Isn’t that what matters?”

At this Keith disappears beneath the water completely, leaving behind only a few delicate bubbles which dance across the surface.

Lance sighs audibly. Like what does Keith expect him to do? Instantly give up his entire life to be at Keith’s beck and call? Figures he’s somehow managed to find the world’s most entitled cryptid.

Loud splashing draws his attention back to the water as Keith vaults effortlessly out of the pool and onto the surrounding rocks, and, yup, naked again. But this time Lance has come prepared. Looking away, because again, his mama raised a gentleman, he reaches into his backpack and tosses some clothes in Keith direction. He hears a satisfying thump as the bundle clearly hits its target — he always had impeccable aim.

“Lance?”

Lance figures that’s his signal that it’s safe to look. Keith stands before him wearing black sweatpants and an old grey t-shirt he was willing to part with. And it’s, fuck, it’s cute, okay?

“You’re really attached to the clothing huh?” Keith is smirking again.

“People wear clothing, Keith. It’s just polite. If you’re gonna look like people, you gotta cover up. It’s non-negotiable.” Lance is dying on this hill.

Keith shrugs, “If you say so.”

“I do. Say so. Yes.” This is gotta be the one of the more ridiculous demands Lance has ever made, telling a cute guy to cover up, but Keith isn’t a guy, even if he’s cute. What he needs is a subject change, immediately. “So, ah, what do you do around here for fun?”

Keith frowns, “Fun?”

“Yeah!” Lance smiles, “I mean, I know you’ve got the whole guard duty thing, but it’s pretty quiet around here, you must do something to pass the time.”

“This water is my sacred responsibility, and my life-force, it’s not just a job.” Keith growls.

Ok, open mouth insert foot, Lance didn’t usually have such a hard time starting up a conversation. “Hey, I didn’t mean that what you do isn’t important. I mean, this waterfall, it’s beautiful. You do a good job taking care of it, I’m sure it’s a lot of work.”

Keith softens a bit at the praise, “It is. But I do what I can.”

Lance decides to come at the question from a different angle. “Does watching over this leave you any time for anything else?”

Keith cocks his head, thoughtful. “I patrol, swim, take care of the animals, repair damage to the land, and sometimes…”

Lance thinks he can hear Keith end that sentence, but it’s so soft he can’t make it out. “Sometimes you?” He prompts.

Keith looks away. Embarrassed? “Sometimes, when there’s time, I, read.”

Lance’s eyebrows shoot all the way up past his hairline. The cryptid, READS?! “You read?? Like, books?”

“What else do you read?” Keith fires back.

“Hey no,” Lance backtracks, “I didn’t mean… I just, I didn’t expect you to have books out here?”

Keith scowls, “Why? Because I’m just some monster to you?”

“What? No!” Crap, were all dragons this touchy or did Lance just get extra lucky? “I didn’t mean that, it’s just that you live out here in the middle of absolute nowhere. It’s not like there’s a library. I didn’t figure you’d have, I dunno, human stuff.”

Keith looks away. “They… were my father’s.”

Oh shit. Did that mean there was some even bigger and grumpier dragon around? No, Keith said they were his father’s, that means… Keith has turned almost completely away from him. This is definitely not a bear he should poke.

“Uh, sorry.” It’s a lame response, but Lance isn’t sure what the protocol is on consolidating a cryptid on the loss of a family member.

Keith shrugs, “I didn’t know him.”

In the awkward silence that follows Lance becomes convinced that Keith can hear the sound of the gears grinding in his head trying to come up with a way to salvage the conversation, because he quietly adds, “Would you like to see them?”

“I’d LOVE to!” Lance practically shouts in relief before attempting to regain his cool. “I mean, sure, if you want to, it’d be cool.”

Keith glances back at him, and, yep, there’s the eye roll again. But also a tiny smile? Lance will take the win.

[andrew-the-architect]

A little project to imagine a naturally accurate versions of the Lions, following the laws of natural adaptation.