#'keith was a weird loner at the garrison and he's a weird loner out here'

[thebroccolination]

they have no defense, your honor

[girlboypersonthingy]

I GOT AN ANON REQUEST FOR KEITH X READER CHILDHOOD FRIENDS TO LOVERS AND ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT 😩 I’m sorry, anon but here it is! ✨ Keith is so baby 🥹

Keith x reader ~ Childhood friends to lovers ❤️‍🔥

You met at the garrison when you were barely teens, when Keith’s hair was shorter and he NEVER opened his mouth in public.

It’s not that he didn’t like you when you first met, he just didn’t want to like you. He was comfortable being a loner and didn’t want to put in the effort a friendship requires

But you were just so nice to him. He lowkey loved and hated it at the same time. He wanted to ignore you like he did everyone else but you wouldn’t leave him alone and he felt too guilty to tell you to go away. You noticed he was always alone so you tried to offer him some kindness.

He kinda wanted you to leave him alone but you didn’t and eventually, he started to looked forward to seeing you everyday. Seeing you run to him with a smile on your face and an extra lunch bag in your hand for him made him feel important. He’d never admit any of that to you tho.

One day, you weren’t at school and the whole day was just off. He didn’t feel right, he felt sad and invisible as he walked past all his classmates in the hall. He felt like no one truly saw him besides Shiro, who was often too busy to really give Keith attention, and you.

The next day when he saw you, he came up to you first!!!

“Where were you yesterday?” “I had a doctors app-“ “Next time, tell me you’re gonna be gone. I was worried.” He reached out for your hand, holding it between his own cold hands. “Oh…okay. I-I’m sorry, Keith.”

Omfg he was worried about you? After one day??? How cute!

From then on, you two were inseparable, the best of friends. He went to you every time he was really sad and needed support or when he was extremely angry and needed to just rant and yell to you. He confided in you so much, he trusted you more than anyone else. He told you the ugly and embarrassing secrets he’d never told anyone else before.

That day that he punched Griffin, after going to the dean’s office he found you outside reading. You could tell he was upset as he stomped over to you, making you immediately toss your book aside and give him your full attention.

“Keith? You okay? What happ-“ He flopped down in the grass beside you, laid on his side with his head resting on your thigh and began crying. He made sure to keep it quiet and keep his face hidden from you but you could feel him shaking. Unsure of what to say, you just began playing with the hair covering the nape of his neck. He LOVED the physical affection. He didn’t talk to you at all that afternoon, he just cried in your lap for a while then hugged you tight and went home.

That moment was when you both began to catch feelings. He loved that you were so kind and accepting of him, always so comforting. You never pressured him to talk to you, your presence alone was enough to calm him down.

You loved that he trusted you and always protected and checked up on you. He would do anything for you, all you had to do was ask with your pretty smile and soft eyes and he’d comply.

As you both grew up, he came to love your praises. You always told him how smart he was and how amazing he was at piloting, he couldn’t get enough. You fed his ego so much.

He was and still is terrible at returning the compliments. He’d often offer you constructive criticism instead, which took some getting used to but made you realize that he genuinely cared for you and only wanted the best for you.

You’d often walk hand in hand around the garrison and if anyone gave you two a weird look or tried to tease y’all about being a couple, Keith would literally bark at them while keeping your hand in his grip. “Fuck off! Mind your business…” and you liked his fiery personality. He was your scary guard dog.

When Keith got kicked out of the garrison, it broke both of your hearts. He was completely lost without you or Shiro around and you couldn’t sleep well at night for over a month bc you were so worried about him. Just like that, he had disappeared.

It was a while until you finally found him in that shack in the desert. You had gotten a tip from a teacher at the garrison while they were talking about him being a recluse and how he would sneak out to that shack in the middle of the night just to be alone and enjoy the quiet.

You found it one day and sort of just barged in, catching him half dressed and sleepy in his bed. “Keith?” He sat up abruptly, fists up defensively. “(Y/N)? How…what…?” His hands dropped to his sides as he stared at you in surprise. You ran and hugged him tightly, smiling as he hesitantly hugged you back.

He looked different…his hair was longer, he looked like he had been working out a lot and the bags under his violet eyes were very prominent.

You decided the garrison just wasn’t for you and you’d rather be with Keith. It just wasn’t the same there without him so you left it all behind and began visiting him every day.

He had never been so depressed and anxious before you found him and now that you were back in his life, he slowly but surely began to smile and eat more and act like his normal moody self.

The night finally came that you helped him rescue Shiro and he told you he’d be forever in debt to you for helping him save his brother. After getting Shiro to safety and settling everyone down, he pulled you outside his little shack so you could be alone together and he hugged you so tight it almost hurt as he cried on your shoulder. This time, his tears seemed to be from happiness and relief. He finally had his support system back ❤️‍🩹

Once you found yourselves in space together, his attitude changed a bit. He was much more busy and irritated and quiet all the time. Being a young adult out in space with the tremendous pressure of defending the universe took its toll on him.

You just gave him space and tried to keep yourself busy as well. He wasn’t sure if he liked the space or not.

As you all began to get into the swing of life out in the cosmos, Keith began coming around to you more often.

“Wanna come train with me? It’s boring by myself.” You were way too excited to spend time with him. You missed him so much while he was being distant. This moment changed everything. You two were inseparable again.

The whole team noticed that you had a way of getting him to soften up and relax when he was really frustrated. Everyone knew that you two loved each other but would never admit it to the other.

Finally, loverboy Lance steps in. He had to get y’all together. Keith is so dense and only seems to open up to you. You both just need a push from Lance the matchmaker.

He goes to Keith first and Keith shuts down the whole idea. He is terrified to lose your friendship by pushing a relationship on you so he totally rejects Lance’s help. He even tries to tell Lance that he only sees you as a friend but we all know he’s a terrible liar.

When Lance approached you, you couldn’t help but confess your burning love for Keith. You love him more than anyone in the world and you were also scared of making the friendship awkward by confessing to him. But Lance is the best wingman in the world. He would never let you fail.

Lance helped you come up with the right words to say and also tried to get you to practice some pick up lines, to which you just scoffed at him.

Finally, the day had come. You were gonna tell him how you really feel, how you’ve been feeling all these years.

You approach Keith’s door, waiting a few seconds before your shaky hand knocks.

The door slides open and a small smile grows on his lips. “What’s up?” You walk past him and into his room without asking permission, finding a seat on his bed. He was confused as to why you didn’t even smile at him like you normally do. “(Y/N)…are you okay?” He came to sit beside you, watching you with worried eyes.

“Listen…I uh…I have something to tell you but you have to swear, promise me that you’ll always be my friend…” Keith’s cheeks begin to flush as he nods slowly. He’s pretty sure he knows what’s about to come out of your mouth. “I promise.”

“I…I’m in love with you. I’ve loved you since we were kids. You…you mean the entire universe to me and I just want to call you my boyfriend. I don’t want to ruin our friendship so I understand if you don’t-“

“Shut up. I love you too…more than anyone. Let’s just date already.” And now his face is burning red hot as he avoids your gaze.

You guys fell into it so quick and smooth. It was an easy transition from best friends to lovers. You shared your first kiss just a few days after making it official.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since that day you told me you were worried about me when I wasn’t at school.” This makes him smile bigger than you’ve ever seen him smile before.

“Yeah? Funny…that’s when I first wanted to kiss you too.”

There’s no one else he’d rather be with. You are his person and he is yours, forever and ever and ever ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[paladinwrites]

sunrise

Keith x reader

100 follower contest prize: second place (~1500 words one-shot) @rosewhore

[keith taking his fem!so to the beach to watch the sunrise on a first date after they get back to earth]

I misread this at first and thought it was supposed to take place in the first episode of season 8 (because sunrise --> sunset --> that one sunset scene in s8) and accidentally wrote 1k words on another idea, so whoops

also, we are pretending that allura never died and only just weakened to the point of near death

regardless, sorry about my mini disappearance! writer’s block & school hit me, but I’m partly back now!

word count: 1.4k

- mod asteria ✨

It was all over. Haggar had been defeated, every reality had been saved and the universe was safe from the Galra. After the years of fighting everyone had gone through, it was almost unbelievable that peace was finally achieved. Keith had been through so much, freeing planets, Blade of Marmora missions, the Quantum Abyss and even a few brushes with death.

So why on Earth (haha) was he so nervous for the date with [Name]?

Granted, as far as Keith knew, he was able to survive everything the war had thrown at him, but this was something emotional and something Keith wasn’t familiar with. The whole ‘asking someone out’ wasn’t his sort of style.

With a bit of help from Shiro (and Lance, regretfully), Keith had awkwardly asked [Name] (whom he had an interest in which he wasn’t even aware of until everyone else pointed it out) out on a date.

The problem?

Keith was a walking disaster and had managed to set it up at about 6 in the morning (Lance almost didn’t believe him, ”You were supposed to say pm, not am!”). Keith was also completely unsure of what he was to do. What did people even do on dates? Eat? Talk? In fact, what would they do if it was extremely early in the morning?

Operation “Make sure Keith doesn’t mess up” started soon afterwards and the paladins were forced to stuff themselves into an abandoned room inside the Garrison. Keith personally felt that everyone was overreacting. Why would they care that much about his date? After a few explanations from Lance and reassurances from Shiro, he begrudgingly agreed to join in on the meeting.

In fact, throughout the entire ‘meeting,’ it consisted of mainly Coran, Lance and Pidge throwing out ideas while one other would shoot it down. Whenever all three (mainly Lance and Pidge) agreed on an idea, it would then be shut down by Allura or Shiro, claiming it was too dangerous, inefficient or just plain impossible. 

Keith was glad those two were there to be the adults of the group, for the ideas being offered were definitely not something he would have wanted to try, especially after having gone through many dangerous situations in his lifetime.

It was only when Hunk spoke up with the simple idea of watching the sunset (how nobody ever mentioned that, Keith didn’t understand) when there was the approval of all everyone.

After that, it was just endless tips and tricks, what not to do, what to do and how not to make himself look plain weird in front of [Name]. One of Pidge and Allura’s advice was particular effective in convincing Keith not to mess up, with both of them smiling too much for his comfort, implying a small threat not to hurt [Name] or to pay the consequences.

And despite how nice Allura tended to be and how small Pidge was, both could be pretty darn terrifying they wanted to.

Standing outside the door, Keith could definitely feel the sweat building up on his hands. Butterflies tickled his stomach as he lightly tapped his foot against the ground. Keith was beyond nervous. His eyes glanced over to the clock in the distance. It was nearly time. He watched as the seconds hand ticked around and around. 

Until finally, a bit after it was six, the door opened.

Keith didn’t have any words. His jaw nearly dropped open in surprise.

[Name] was standing there, donning an [outfit of choice]. With a simple smile, whatever Keith was about to say completely disappeared and the two of them stood there in silence.

Keith brought a hand up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly. Shifting his foot from side to side in, he quickly stuttered out his words. “S-so, do you want to go?”

“I’d love to.” [Name]’s soft smile was what relaxed Keith’s nerves.

The two of them soon found themselves wandering along the seashore. The beach was a bit of a walk away and the cool air nipped at their skin, but it was worth it. It was still dark by the time both had gotten there.

Both made their way onto the sand and started to walk. There was no specific destination in mind, but it was nice to just walk and not worry about a possible attack or prying eyes.

[Name] had long taken off her shoes and socks, holding them lightly in one hand and letting her feet feel the sand between her toes.

It was a simple matter and she was enjoying herself. Keith couldn’t help but let a small smile grow at the sight of the girl giggling as she ran about the sand. He made his way slowly behind her, avoiding strange large items that had been washed ashore by the waves.

The two walked along side by side for a little while, Keith watching [Name] with a soft, fond look on his face. Before everything, before he had gone up into space in the Blue Lion, he had known [Name] at the Garrison.

As cliche as it sounded, she was one of the only people who bothered with Keith. At first, he had only really interacted with Shiro, and ignored all of his classmates. But then, a girl his age, maybe younger, walked up to him, held out her hand and asked him if he had wanted to be friends.

He was young, reckless and a pure loner then. He had stared at the hand for a short while, then awkwardly ran off, not knowing how to react. It was only he had told Shiro when he realised that maybe, it was the better choice to accept.

Keith didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. [Name] had come back, day after day, sat next to him and just interacted with him in the best way she could. It was a hard and strange process, but the girl had slowly managed to peel away the walls around Keith’s interior.

That had been the start of their friendship and the tiny blossom of a crush in Keith’s heart.

Four years on (technically one and three for [Name] and Keith respectively), Keith wouldn’t have ever believed he had a chance with [Name]. She always seemed so friendly and so kind the pretty much everyone else, it seemed impossible that she didn’t have someone else.

“C’mon Keith!” Keith looked up and saw that [Name] had run ahead while he was caught up in his thoughts. She was a little further out, but the distance could be covered easily. [Name] waved her arms about, laughing uncontrollably. The wind had slightly picked up, blowing her air around. Keith smiled. How had he got lucky?

He picked up his pace and jogged over to [Name]. By then, she had sat down on the sand and was weaving her fingers between the grains as she waited for him. Realising that he had arrived, she patted the space next to her, urging him to sit down.

Keith did as so. [Name] leaned back and looked out towards the sea. It was dark then, most probably due to the fact that the sun was only just rising. Keith noticed this and followed her gaze.

The sun was bright, nearly forcing the both of them to look away, but the beauty that was unfolding in front of them was too good to miss. Slowly, the deep blue the sky was previously covered in was tinted with brilliant shades of red, pink and orange. In the sky, wisps of colour changed and swirled about as the sun slowly brought light into the sky.

Gradually, as the sun slowly rose, [Name] slowly, but catiously started to lean her head on Keith’s shoulders. The boy stiffened up at first, but gradually he relaxed, liking the contact. He brought an arm around to hold her. The embrace wasn’t tight, but they could both feel it and it was enough.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yeah. And it’ll be the first of many that we can see now that we’re back.” There was a small chuckle from [Name].

“So we’re going to wake up each day and five thirty and walk out here to watch the sunrise?” Keith’s cheeks immediately flared red at her words, remembering his small slip-up from the start.

“I-I-” He tried to stammer out a proper response, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry about it Keith, I don’t mind trading the sunrise for the sunset some days.” 

[starforged]

keith/axca - trying something new

Dances aren’t his thing. He did his best in school to actively avoid them, and after a while, people actively avoided asking him out as their date. The bad boy schtick only works if the bad boy has redeemable qualities.

Keith didn’t have any until Shiro, he thinks. 

He tugs at the collar of his dress shirt. It’s nice, he guesses. Better than whatever getup that Coran was trying to get them to wear, which looks like a dress. Ceremonial Altean robes, right on Earth! Coran’s is floral in design. 

This is maybe not how he expected his first dance to go. Probably because Keith has never had those expectations. It’s not that it’s bad. Everyone seems relaxed - for once. People are laughing again, genuine laughter. He can see the ease in his mom’s shoulders that’s never been there in the two years he’s known her. And his group, his Paladins, they look like just normal kids for once. Awkward and silly and, in Lance’s case, making complete asses of themselves.

The Garrison calls it a celebration. A big victory in a larger war. Keith thinks it’s unnecessary. There’s still so much work to be done. The Galra are still in control, still broken in warring factions. And that robot, the one piloted by an Altean. That’s cause for concern, isn’t it? Music and dancing and spiked punch are the furthest thing from Keith’s mind. 

But, well. He wonders if that’s because he’s the loner.

“I haven’t been to many parties, but I would say that brooding in a corner isn’t really customary.” 

Lost in his thoughts -- brooding -- Acxa has sidled along side of him. She’s not dressed up. Not that he wouldn’t have minded seeing her... No, that’s not a road he should go down. He clears his throat and hopes that stray thought has landed on his face in anyway. Instead, he straightens up, drops his arms from where they were crossed over his chest, and... He crosses them back over his chest a second later. 

“How did you make it past the dress code?”

She’s in a pair of slacks and a tank top, like she was going for a look and then gave up halfway through. It’s practical wear, like she’s expecting a fight. 

The way she has lived all these years, he’s not surprised that she would be. 

Acxa glances down at herself, a frown taking over her mouth. Shit, he’s said something dumb. “I thought I looked good.”

“You do. I mean, you look fine. I just, er... You do.” He’s an idiot. He’s taken a page out of Lance’s book and started making an ass of himself. 

Maybe it would have been easier to take the page out about flirting. 

That frown slides easily into a smirk, and her eyes sparkle. Not sparkle, no, that’s a stupid description. They just light up with amusement, clearly laughing at him and his awkward attempts at a compliment. 

“You look better,” she tells him. “You clean up well.”

There it is, that blush he was hoping to avoid with this conversation. He’s an adult. A Paladin. He’s fought and been bruised and broken, and this one woman that he’s barely had any conversations with makes him turn red. 

“Hmm.” He tugs his collar again. “Thanks?”

“You’re welcome.” She copies his stance, crossing her arms over her chest as well. His eyes follow the movement, admiring the muscles in her arms, the hard curve of her biceps. She catches him, of course, but he wasn’t really hiding the appreciation. 

“I’m not very good at this,” Keith admits.

“At partying?” There’s that laugh again, the light in her eyes, the amusement at his failings. 

“Parties, dancing. Girls.” He clears his throat, again. “Women, I mean.”

Because Acxa? She’s not a girl. She’s likely way older than him. 

“I figured that.” So matter of fact, so nonchalant about it. 

“Right. But - I mean, you’re standing over here with me--”

“In your brooding corner.”

His brow furrows. “It’s not my brooding corner.”

She leans forward, glancing around them. He catches Shiro’s eye for a second, and Shiro smiles. He tries to not blush again. And then Acxa is leaning into towards him, her voice pitched low.

“I don’t seen anyone else in the brooding corner.”

It gets a smile out of him, a slow tug of his mouth as he finally relaxes. It’s weird, all of the tension running out of his body like it was never there to begin with. She notices it, the way her gaze dips over his body. Of course she does. She’s a trained general; this is a moment of weakness. She could destroy him right now. 

“Why me?”

“I don’t know anyone else,” Acxa says. 

“You don’t know me.”

“We could change that.” It comes out as a firm statement, because that’s the only way she talks but he sees it, the question in her eyes. He could change it, if he wanted. She’s interested. 

He looks from her to the room. There’s dancing. The song is a slow one, a soft ballad. Lance and Allura sway together. Coran waves his way around the room like some kind of jellyfish. Shiro spins Pidge around, who looks very uncomfortable. 

Keith knows how she feels.

“Let’s dance.” He takes Acxa’s hand before she can agree or decline, tugging her gently closer to him. He’s not bringing her to the dance floor. He doesn’t want that attention. Besides, they’re already comfortable in his brooding corner. 

“I’ve never really danced,” Acxa admits. But she’s obviously observed enough to know to put her free hand on his shoulder while his rests extremely lightly on her hip. She squeezes his hand.

“Me either.”

They move stiffly, trying to not stare at each other, a few inches of space between them. It can’t be that hard. It is. He hates it. Not her and the feel of her close to him, but how absolutely terrible they are at this. 

So he moves his hand until his arm is wrapped around her waist and she has no choice but to move in closer, stepping on his feet in the process. Twice. Hard. He’s not sure if it was on purpose or not, but there’s no protest from the former general as her arm wraps around his shoulder. He can feel her breathy sigh on his face, like she was holding it in. 

Keith closes his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers. There’s a hum of surprise from Acxa in return. 

“This is nice.”

“But weird?” Keith asks.

“Incredibly strange.”

[superstressedspidergirl]

Keith

So I just kind of want to like, let it sit in a bit.

Keith is orphaned. His dad is dead. His mom leaves him behind. Not fun. We know he has some memories and some hints here and there about who and what he is, maybe. But he doesn’t have a guide or a book and he’s lost. 

Along comes Shiro (just as a heads up I am not a Sheith fan and will not be supporting that here, but if that’s you you have fun in another sandbox. Thanks!).

I am going to go ahead with fancanon and assume Shiro was either kicked out of his family for being gay, or is also an orphan. But either way Shiro has no blood family is my assumption. 

He sees this kid with immense potential, and no one else. And he does his best to integrate that kid into a community and help them and give them something to go with. If that makes sense. It’s not you vs the world, it’s us vs the world. But we know from the show Keith doesn’t get on board. It’s him and Shiro (I would say big brother/mentor/father type) against the entire world. Keith is at odds with the garrison and Shiro is who smooths it over. He’ll do what Shiro wants. Shiro is his idol and his world. At least as far as we know. 

And as a kid who had a not great home situation, I had some adult mentors who were all I had, and all I lived for, and man. I was so sad when they moved on to other locations and lives. 

So we know Keith knows a lot about what’s going on with Shiro and his illness...

and probably knows Adam. But like, to me he’s probably not that close to Adam, or Adam wasn’t planned (even if supposedly as of season 2 gay Shiro was planned.) Otherwise I would assume if Keith was close to Adam he would have maybe stayed close, or kept in touch etc. Honestly with some kids who really need the attention he might have seen Adam as a rival for Shiro’s attention, rather than embracing Adam as a secondary parent. And like I have a lot of feels about Shiro and Adam but we’ll get there later. This is Keith’s time. 

So, Keith in all his wisdom, finds out that the Kerberos mission goes to shit. And the pilot is blamed. Pilot Error. And he knows that’s b.s. Even with Shiro’s disease there’s no way. None at all. Shiro is THE best that’s why he was chosen. Without Shiro at the garrison and with the garrison betraying him and blaming him like that, it makes sense to me Keith would bail. He’s a loner and he doesn’t realize he could use what the garrison gives him and go find Shiro, he just sees them as a new enemy. IMO. 

He’s obviously insanely smart and capable, because he finds out where the ship is landing, how to get to it, has access to explosives or can make them, sets them off appropriately without hurting anyone until the getaway chase... and scoops Shiro up and bails. 

I think it’s really telling he puts Shiro in his father’s clothes. I mean maybe that’s all he had, but I am sure he could have planned to have something else or maybe if he’d been heinously crushing on Shiro he might have some of Shiro’s clothes lying around. But he puts his father’s clothing onto his mentor/father/brother. And that’s what integrates him into a unit. 

Sure he and Lance clash, but they work together. Such as when the Castle goes rogue on them and they’re stuck in the shaft, while they fight, they work together. Even nonverbally when they see the door. Or on the balmera, seeing the ladder. Like did Keith understand Lance’s weird grunts and pantomimes? No. But he saw the ladder, and put it together. Even did a little small smile. 

I think that like, of course his temperament, like his lion’s, is challenging and aggressive and I think that’s what makes him a good second. Personally. It’s better to have the captain liked by all and have it look like the second in command is the dick. Even though logically you KNOW it’s the captain handing down the orders. But like, on ships first and second mate do the discipline. They run the orders. They check the ship. A good captain will, too, but it’s not his job. 

I think when Shiro tells him after the crash: I want you to take my place, what he’s trying to also do is get Keith to try and look at the team better. I need you to take over as I have, to be compassionate, understanding, caring... and Keith isn’t ready for that. I don’t think he’s necessarily capable of it the way Shiro is. 

I think his plotline should have changed when Shiro came back from the void. I think he should have lead the BoM or been a ranking member, and Shiro should have taken the lion back. The BoM is a guerrilla warfare group. If you leave a teammate behind to protect the whole, that’s fine. There’s hundreds of them. Have been for 10,000 years. 

There’s only 5 paladins. + Allura and Coran. That’s it. 

There’s no room for alone missions when you need Voltron, there’s no room for it being about yourself. That’s what makes Shiro a good leader. He assesses the situation and says to form up or to break apart and work as a team. 

Keith just isn’t a team leader in that respect. (Tbh he kind of reminds me of Gale in THG. He’ll blow up children to kill the bad guys because winning is what matters over human decency -not to say I think he’s lacking human compassion, I just think he wants to complete the task and move on as quickly as possible. Which is great in war... but also truly terrible.) 

And that’s... my long-ass rambling. 

[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

The New Romantics ch. 7

(If you have songs I can add play to a playlist for this fic please let me know!!)

Formerly known as Frenemies

Part 1 Here

Part 2 Here

Part 3 Here

Part 4 Here

Part 5 Here

Part 6 Here

click the OP if the read more link doesn’t show.

The following day, the crew had come to the unanimous decision to postpone their landing until morning. If they could only stay for 12 hours, they wanted it to be daylight. Hunk, Pidge, and Lance were too hyped up and excited to sleep, switching between nervousness and impatience and restlessness.

Keith watched, feeling happy for his fellow paladins in a strange, detached manner. He wanted to feel that way too, but he had nowhere to go. No one to go back to.

The three of them started for the lounge, hoping to goof off until they were too tired until morning came. Lance asked Keith if he was joining, but Keith felt he would only bring them down. He assured Lance he’d be fine and to go on anyway.

Lance seemed hesitant, but eventually turned away to join his friends. Meanwhile, Keith went to find Allura.

She was in the control room, fidgeting with a holographic tablet as she sat cross-legged on the floor and the mice did her hair. He cleared his throat nervously and she looked up with bright eyes. “Oh, hello, Keith. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” he mumbled. “I uh….” He stepped forward and sat across from her. “I wanted to say I was sorry for how I spoke to you the other day.” Allura’s expression softened. “I know it was out of line. I was just very overwhelmed I guess.”

“I understand. I’m sorry too. Shiro spoke with me afterwards; I was wrong to try to keep you from your home for my benefit. Lance spoke with me too. About how communication isn’t your strong suit.” Keith grimaced and shrugged. He really wished that wasn’t what he was known for. But he was the loner of the group. The guy with a bad temper and shitty communication skills. “Are you still angry with him?”

“With… Lance?” She nodded, and Keith shook his head. “No, we talked yesterday. We’re okay now.” She nodded and smiled.

“It’s strange. He’s usually always flirting with me, but yesterday during training he didn’t try at all. Come to think of it, he hasn’t in a long time. Quite a relief, honestly.” Keith looked at her with surprise and oddly enough, felt himself blush. He shrugged and looked back down, earning a chuckle from Allura. “Where will you be going when we get to Earth?”

Ah, the dreaded question. Keith frowned and sighed. “I’m not really sure. There’s nowhere for me to go. I’m sure the Garrison probably searched my shack already. It’s probably closed off. And I don’t know where my family is, or where to start looking.”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but… if that’s the case, why did you advocate for going to Earth so passionately?”

Keith looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows. “I… I knew the others needed it. I knew Lance needed it.” He gulped and shrugged. Everything was about Lance lately. “I guess I could just stay on the ship. Or…. Look around for a while.”

“Why don’t you ask one of the other paladins if you can join them?”

Keith smiled and shook his head. “They’re reuniting with their families. I don’t want to intrude on something like that. It’s okay. Really.” He stood and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m going to go get some sleep. I think I’m the only one of them who can.” He chuckled awkwardly and waved before turning away.

Sleeping without Lance was doable, but it wasn’t comfortable. Sleeping on his own like this, he sometimes felt like he’d never left his little shack. He wasn’t sure why sleeping next to Lance was so soothing. Even if Lance wasn’t cuddling him against his chest, Keith just felt better having him close. Which made no sense, because when he was asleep he couldn’t even tell Lance was there.

It was a very strange feeling.

Eventually, Keith managed to fall asleep. He woke up when he felt the slight shudder of the ship landing.

***

Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were all bustling around to look like they hadn’t slept on the floor in their clothes. Keith watched with amusement as they ran back and forth, torn between running out to feel the morning sun and doing what they had to in order to look safe and healthy for their families.

Lance was the first one done, surprisingly. He noticed Keith watching Hunk and Pidge bustling around and sat beside him. “Are you going back to your shack?” he asked. Keith shook his head. “Well… what are you going to do when we go out there?”

“I don’t know. Go to the mall, maybe? Figure out what’s new on Earth.” He shrugged.

Lance looked at him for a long time, and Keith felt like closing in on himself. Then Lance wrapped an arm around him and said, “Well, you’re coming to my house. I know it won’t be a problem. We’re a big family, and trust me, my mom will stuff you full of food.” Keith started to object, but Lance covered Keith’s face with his hand. “Shush. It’s decided.”

Keith moved his hand away and scoffed. “Lance this is your reunion with your family. I have no place there.”

Lance frowned and crossed his arms. “Well, you’re my friend, right?” Keith nodded. “And you’ve saved my butt plenty of times. I’m sure my mom would love to thank you.” He hesitated, but Lance gripped his shoulder and smiled. “Keith, I mean it. It’s thanks to you I get to go home anyway.”

“Okay,” he gave in. “I’ll go with you. But you’re going to have to translate a lot.” Lance laughed and nodded, making Keith feel a weird tug in his gut.

***

Each paladin got into a pod set with coordinates for their home. They were given watches with the amount of time they had left. Keith got in with Lance and sat nervously as the pod shot forward on autopilot. Lance looked nervous, and Keith noticed his hands were shaking.

“How many siblings do you have?” he asked.

Lance looked up, blinking in surprise. “Three. Two sisters then a brother. It’s been, what? Two years since we became paladins? Maria is probably 17. Rebecca is 12 unless her birthday hasn’t passed. And Tito is eight now.” Lance smiled. “I wonder if my aunt is still living with them. She’s probably 21 now. She’s like the older sister I never wanted. She had little boy before I left, so he’s probably two. Little Nicolas.”

Keith smiled and nodded. “They’re going to be really happy to see you, Lance.” His blue eyes flitted towards him and sparkled, and Keith looked away, checking the grid on the pod. Two more minutes before landing.

Neither of them spoke for that time. They felt the pod land and it opened, giving them their first breath of fresh, Earthly air in years. It made Keith lightheaded, and he noticed Lance had shut his eyes and stood shakily. Keith followed him out and saw a small house with short wooden planks around it. There was a wide expanse of land before the next house’s fence. A dog was running in the lawn directly in front of them, running around with a little boy who was whirling a stick like a sword. There was a smaller boy wobbling behind him, squatting down to yank grass up.

Lance walked forward slowly, and Keith stayed behind him watching with interest. He put a hand against the gate entrance and the little boys came to a stop. The dog started barking, scratching up the fence, trying to get to Lance. “Hi, Renegade,” he chuckled.

“Mami!” The little boy ran back into the house screaming for his mom. “Mami! Es Lance! Mami! Mira!”

Lance opened the gate and smiled at the toddler that was staring at him with a runny nose and a faced smeared with dirt.

The door opened, and Keith looked up to see a woman with wild, curly hair pulled up in a bun. She had on a floral shirt and faded jeans, mostly covered by a bright green apron. Her eyes were as blue as Lance’s, and wide with shock. Behind her, the little boy from before was peeking from around her hip.

“Mami?” Lance whispered. Keith looked at him, tears running down his cheek. “Mamita,” he called. “It’s me, Mami. It’s Lance.” He walked closer and she crumbled to her knees, eyes locked on Lance.

But when he moved to help her up, she started screaming, and pushing him away. “Demonio! Demonio! Maldito espíritu, déjame en paz! Deja mi niño descansar!”

Lance knelt down and grabbed her arms as she hit him, shaking his head. “No, Mami. Soy yo, Mami. I’m okay. It’s me. Remember when I fell on the porch and lost my tooth? And when I went running in the field and got stung by a wasp? Or when I broke my arm on the tire swing?”

She let out a sob and stopped trying to hit him. “Eres tu, mi niño? Is it really you?” Lance nodded and she wrapped her arms around him, sobbing so hard Keith had to look away.

Some twisted part of him wished there were someone out there who would cry like that for him. He wished there were someone out there who missed him and mourned him. He looked back and found Lance wiping his mom’s tears away, kissing her cheek as he cried.

“Where have you been? What happened to you? I thought you were dead.” Her voice broke and she began sobbing again at the end of that sentence. Lance hugged her and nodded, whispering in Spanish.

Keith watched as two girls ran toward the door, looking confused and afraid. They saw Keith first and he couldn’t help but start at how similar they looked to Lance. They had long brown hair, but it wasn’t as curly as their mothers. The only difference Keith could immediately note was their heights and the fact that one of them had their hair in a side braid while the other had it loose.

“Lance?” the taller one gasped. Lance pulled away from his mom and looked at the two girls which Keith assumed were his sisters. “Dios mio,” she whispered.

“Maria! Becca!” He stood, keeping one hand in his mother’s as his sisters tackled him into a hug. “Tito! Come here, little man!” Keith took a deep breath and stepped back feeling like an intruder.

They kept covering Lance in kisses and tears and exclaiming in Spanish. Finally, Lance stood, with puffy eyes and a tear-streaked face. He waved Keith over with a wide smile. “This is Keith. He’s my friend, he’s….” Lance sniffed and shrugged. “It’s a long story. But we’re kind of like soldiers in space. And he’s saved me a lot of times. It’s thanks to him we were allowed to visit.”

“Visit?” his mother questioned.

Lance’s expression sobered and nodded. “We can only be here for twelve hours. And we have to go back to keep you all out of danger. Please, trust me, I’m okay. I’m a pilot and I’m fighting to keep a bunch of planets and solar systems safe!”

“Twelve hours,” she repeated. “Then we’d better start celebrating, shouldn’t we. And you, muchachito. Thank you.” She wrapped her arms around Keith and he gasped, uncertainly wrapping his arms around her. Keith understood why Lance missed these hugs so much. “Come in, both of you. Nico, vente, mi amor, Mami will be home soon!” The toddler waddled over to the door and Lance’s mom lifted him into her arms. “Oh, look at you, you’re all messy. Come on in, boys, I’ll make you some breakfast.”

She wiped at her eyes and walked in. Lance looked at Keith with so much joy, it made Keith smile. “I told you,” he said. Keith rolled his eyes and followed him in.

It was a quaint little house. There was a small living room with a television set up around the walls. The kitchen was immediately next to it with a dining room on the opposite side. A hallway led to a few doors, which Keith assumed were the rooms and bathrooms. There was a small glass table beside one of the couches that had a professional picture that showed Lance in his Garrision uniform. Beside it was a picture of Lance with his family standing in front of the Garrison on moving day. There was a religious candle lit behind the pictures and Keith furrowed his eyebrows.

“So what is space like?” Becca asked, sitting beside Lance.

“You’re a pilot? What does your ship look like?” Maria asked, sitting cross legged on the floor with Tito in her arms.

“Do you shoot aliens?” Tito asked.

Lance laughed and started telling them the story of how they came upon the blue lion, how they reached the castle of lions, and the battles against Zarkon. He told them about Pidge and Hunk and Shiro, then Allura and Coran. Keith noticed he didn’t fawn over Allura when he spoke about her and, if he was honest, he felt a little relieved.

In the kitchen, Keith could hear and smell something being made, sizzling, smelling of spices and making his mouth water. He hadn’t had real food in a long time. He also heard Lance’s mom singing in the kitchen as she cooked and held Nicolas on one hip.

Just as she had begun to set out plates, the door opened and another woman with wild frizzy curls came in with a sigh and bags of groceries. “Carajo, los tomates estaban- Maria santisima!” she shrieked when she saw Lance, dropping her bags. “Lance! C-co-cu-cua-d-donde?” She stammered, and it only made it harder for Keith to understand.

Lance stood and smiled. “Hi, Nanis,” he whispered.

She shrieked and started jumping before engulfing Lance into a hug and crying into his shoulder. A variety of words were spoken, over each other, in English and Spanish, so Keith just watched and decided he understood enough by the expressions on their faces.

“This is Keith. He’s my friend.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Keith? You mean the Keith?” Lance paled and he gave her a pointed look. “What, you’re friends now? How did that happen?”

They both blushed and Keith looked down at the floor. “Um, well, fighting wars makes you closer, I guess,” he mumbled. “Hi,” he waved.

“Well, I want to hear about this war,” Nanis said. “And I smell food! Maria, Becca help me pick this up.”

***

Within the span of an hour, more uncles and aunts and Lance’s father had all arrived at the small house. There had been a lot of crying and a lot of Spanish spoken too quickly for Keith to keep up. Lance kept him at his side, sometimes to back up his claims on the war and his ability to pilot a lion and shooting his bayard.

Keith wasn’t sure what to feel. He felt like a boyfriend coming home to meet the family each time Lance introduced him. But they were just friends. Keith was only here because he had no family to return to.

Somewhere nearing that hour Keith felt too overwhelmed and took refuge inside the house, looking for the bathroom to calm down. He stayed there long enough for his heart rate to return to normal and for the silence to calm his brain.

When he gathered the courage to leave the bathroom, he ran into Maria, Nanis, and one of the cousins, Elena. They were smiling at him, giving each other sly glances. “So,” Nanis began, “since when are you and Lance friends?”

The truth was, Keith wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure when his relationship with Lance had gone from two people who disliked each other to comrades to two guys who messed around to… actual friends. Who messed around. Then stopped to be just friends. Of course, he couldn’t tell these girls that.

“Um, a while, I guess. It’s hard to tell time up there.”

“But I thought you hated each other,” Maria said. Nanis elbowed her hard and she winced, smacking her arm. “That’s what Lance said, anyway.”

Keith gulped and tried to figure out what to say when Elena blurted, “So do you have like an alien girlfriend up there? Or one of the pala- what is it?”

“Paladins. Uh, no,” he answered. “No girlfriend.”

“Then what are those?” she giggled. Keith furrowed his eyebrows as she gestured to his neck. He backtracked into the bathroom to check his reflection and his stomach dropped.

Goddammit, Lance.

His neck was still littered in hickeys and bite marks from their last endeavor, and while Pidge had helped him hide it before, there was nothing covering them now. “Um, bruises. Training.” The girls giggled and Keith gulped, feeling his face heat up.

“Oye, metiches, leave him alone.” The girls looked over at Becca who was standing with her arms crossed down the hall. “Keith, come on. Ignore them.” She grabbed his arm and hauled him away. Normally Keith didn’t like that, but he was too grateful to really show discomfort. “I know it’s a lot of people. And most of them are as nosy as those girls.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Lance is out playing with Tito and Nicolas. You can hang out with me in here for a bit, if you want. I was just reading.”

Keith nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking around. There weren’t many posters up. There were a few lights that hung across the walls and pictures hanging from transparent string. Journals were scattered on a desk, and a large stuffed bunny was propped up against one corner. Keith’s eyes were drawn to a guitar that rested on the floor in an open case.

“You play guitar?”

“Yeah. I’m taking classes, so I’m not that good.”

Keith nodded and gestured. “May I?” She nodded and Keith picked the guitar up gingerly, feeling the vaguely familiar strings under his fingers. He strummed each string one by one and smiled as the sound echoed.

“Do you play?”

Keith shook his head. “I did a long time ago. I don’t think I remember much.” He strummed the guitar in the chords he remembered, switched to plucking and cursed under his breath when he stumbled or ruined the rhythm. “I only ever really kept one song in my head. My dad really liked it, so… I guess that’s why.”

“Which one?”

“Um, Only Hope. I’m not sure if-”

She reached out and Keith handed the guitar to her. She began strumming the guitar and began singing a familiar tune in a different language. She was singing in Spanish. Keith smiled and nodded, enjoying the elegant, foreign way the words strung together in Spanish. “It was one of the first I learned,” she said with a smile. “I saw a movie with it, and I wanted to learn it.” She handed it back to him and gestured. “Try again. I’ll help you.”

Keith nodded and tried to play again, his mind slightly refreshed. His fingers still slipped now and then, but he still began to murmur the beginning of the song softly. He chuckled when he messed up, but Becca just encouraged him to keep going. By the time he was singing the chorus the second time, his fingers had recalled the movements and played by memory. His voice grew stronger and Becca swayed with a smile as she listened.

When he finished the song he heard a soft breath behind him that made him jump. He turned and saw Lance leaning against the door with a smile on his face. Keith felt his face heat up faster than normal. “You never told me you played guitar.”

“I don’t. I only know the one song. And your sister had to remind me. I’m not-”

“Keith, relax,” he chuckled. “I liked it. I had no idea you could sing.” Keith cleared his throat and gave the guitar back. “You wanna eat? My godfather made some fajita.”

Keith nodded and gave the guitar back to Becca. “Thank you.” She nodded and smiled as he followed Lance out. Before they left the hallway, Lance’s hand gripped Keith’s wrist, making his stomach flip as he pulled him back. “W-What?”

Lance tilted his head and smiled. “You okay? You seem kind of freaked.”

“Just… a lot of people,” he muttered. There was a beat of silence and disappointment settled over Keith, but he wasn’t sure why. “Also.” Keith punched him hard in the arm.

“Ow! What the hell?”

“Your family is asking if I have a girlfriend because of these.” He gestured to his neck.

Lance had the decency to blush, but he rolled his eyes. “Okay first off, you literally asked for that,” he whispered. “Second, just say you do, it’s not like they’d know… it was me.” Keith scoffed and hit his stomach lightly. “Whatever, come on, I’m hungry.”

They both left and went to join the rest of Lance’s family where they were eating. The family was talking in Spanish again so Keith busied himself with picking apart his food and eating it, watching as Lance’s expression changed and shifted. He wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but he knew it was making Lance slightly uncomfortable. He saw it in the tension of his limbs, in the set of his jaw. Vaguely he wondered when he’d come to know Lance well enough to understand subtle body language.

Keith finished his food, and he went to throw away the paper plate he’d been served on. Lance’s mom was in the kitchen, talking to Tito. Tito looked like a clone of Lance, with smoother edges and stubby fingers. It was chilling, really. “Hi, mijo,” Mrs. McClain greeted. “Did you like the food?”

“Yeah. Yes. It was very good, thank you.” He smiled and looked at Tito who was looking at him curiously. He had his stick in hand, and Keith pointed. “Is that your sword?” Tito nodded slowly. “I have a sword too. Not with me, though. It’s on the ship.”

Tito looked at his mother, and she translated for him. His eyes widened and Keith couldn’t help but smile. “Keith, would you like to help me frost the cake?”

“I-I’m not much of a baker, really. I’ll be in your way-”

“The worst you could do is smear the crumbs. It’s all going to be eaten anyway. Come.” She gestured him over and pushed a bowl of homemade frosting toward him. “Three swipes. Like this.” She grabbed a spatula and smeared the frosting on one edge of the cake, swiping back and forth. “Try it.”

Keith chuckled nervously and took the spatula from her. He followed her actions, though his result was sloppier than hers. Still she smiled and nodded her head, encouraging him. “I’ve never frosted a cake,” he mumbled.

She laughed softly and ruffled his hair affectionately, making him freeze. He swallowed and continued to frost. She was looking for something in the cupboards and Tito was watching him. When he managed to finish, he put the spatula down and stepped back.

She clapped and smiled, before placing a few orange colored star shaped sprinkles. “His favorite color,” she said. “He used to love watching the sun go down because the sky became dark orange.” She began placing candles in an array on the cake. When she caught Keith confused expression, she said, “We missed his last birthday. When he turned 17. We might miss his next one, too. I figured we should celebrate now.”

She was smiling, but her voice was shaking. Her eyes were watery, and although Keith felt uncomfortable, he also wanted to help. Lance’s mom was kind and seeing her cry just didn’t feel right. Still he didn’t know what to do.

He cleared his throat and said the first thing that came to mind. “I thought his favorite color was lilac?” She frowned and tilted her head. “I-I don’t know why, I just thought…. Um.”

“Como tus ojos,” she murmured. He furrowed his eyebrows and she smiled. “Ah, like when he was little,” she chuckled. “He always went back and forth.” She waved the concept away and finished placing the candles.

“So his birthday is coming up?” She nodded and Keith bit his lip. “Do you mind if I take a picture of you and Tito?” He pulled out the space phone Pidge made for them all and gestured to it.

“Oh, I look horrible, I…. Ah, one second.” She took her hair down from her bun and pulled it over her shoulder as she kneeled down to wrap her arms around Tito. Tito held out his stick and smiled widely.

Keith smiled and counted until he managed to snap a few pictures. Just enough for what he needed. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a bit.” He smiled and left to find Becca. She was still in her room, scrolling through her computer. “Hey, Becca?”

She turned to him and shut her laptop. “Hi. Everything okay?”

He nodded and waved his phone. “Do you mind if I get a quick picture? I’m trying to do this thing, and…. If it’s okay, I mean.”

She tilted her head and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Do I just sit and smile?” Keith nodded and she walked over to the edge of her bed, crossed her legs, and smiled. Keith snapped a few pictures and nodded. “What are you doing with those?”

“It’s just something I thought of to help Lance with being homesick.”

She frowned, but before she could answer, Keith waved and hurried off to find Maria, Nico, and Nanis. He found Nanis with Nico and Elena playing with the dog, Renegade. Keith managed a few pictures including the dog and left to find Maria. She was helping serve food and managed to get away for a bit to smile into Keith’s camera.

“What is this for?”

“Just something I’m hoping to-”

“Lance!” Keith jumped and turned in time to see a girl running smack into Lance, toppling him over.

He turned to Maria and asked, “Another cousin?”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No, that’s Rosa. Lance’s sort-of girlfriend. They used to date in middle school, but she’d just tug him around like an idiot. I always told him she was no good.” She scrunched her nose like there was a bad smell. “Someone must have told her he’s back.”

Keith looked back and saw Lance standing, hands on Rosa’s shoulders as she cried and smiled up at him. Before he could turn back to Maria, he saw Rosa take Lance’s face in his hands and kiss him. Something twisted uncomfortably in him.

That feeling got worse when a few family members hooted and Lance was kissing her back.

Keith cleared his throat and turned away. “Um, thanks. I….” He trailed off and walked away, reaching the bathroom and shutting himself in again. He sat on the floor trying to figure out why the hell he was so upset.

He and Lance were friends. Just friends. Keith had watched him flirt with countless aliens and felt nothing. Why was this any different?

Whatever the reason, Keith didn’t want to be around to watch the girl cling to Lance’s arm the entire time. He pulled his phone out again and managed to get a signal to connect to Pidge. After a bit, a video popped up and he saw Pidge with her hands out, sitting next to her mom.

“Keith? What’s up?” she asked. “Whoa, you okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” he breathed. He gulped and tried to figure out a way to phrase his question.

Pidge shifted and neared the camera. “Keith, are you okay? What happened?”

He took a breath and looked away. “I don’t mean to intrude, but… do you think I could go stay with you?” She furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head. Keith sighed. “Everyone’s talking Spanish here, and there’s a lot of people, so I’m freaking out.”

She furrowed her eyebrows and nodded. “Yeah, sure. I think I can get my pod to get you. It can probably get there in ten minutes.”

Keith nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Pidge.”

He hung up and left the bathroom. He paced for a few seconds and went back out to the party. He was slightly frustrated at the sight of Lance with his arm around Rosa, laughing with family members. As they poked fun at him, Rosa would cuddle into his neck, and something possessive would wash over Keith.

Finally, he saw the pod land next to the one he and Lance had come in about three hours earlier. The sight of it spooked a few family members, and it managed to make Lance pry himself away from Rosa. He went up to Keith and tugged on his arm.

“Do you know why that thing is here? Is that like a sign? Do we have to get back early?”

“No,” he answered, pulling away. He grabbed his jacket. “It’s for me. I don’t want to intrude on you and your family, and I don’t really get half of what they’re saying, so…. I’ll just stay with her for the rest of the time. It’s cool.”

“Keith.” He groaned and looked at him. “Wh-what do you mean? I mean I thought-” He reached for Keith’s hand then pulled away at the last second. Keith nearly shoved him away just to get to the stupid pod. “You don’t have to go, Keith.”

“I’ll be fine. Really. Besides-”

“Amor, que pasa? Que es esa cosa? Y el, quién es?” Rosa sidled up next to Lance and Keith bit back an actual growl.

“Besides, it looks like you have all the company you need.” Lance frowned but didn’t say anything. “I should go.”

“Keith, are you leaving already?” He turned to see Lance’s mom coming up to him. She noticed Rosa, and her face tightened. It seemed Maria wasn’t the only one who didn’t like her. “Mijo, why don’t you take some food? Come.” She pulled him away and took him back to the kitchen. “That stupid girl. I can’t believe que tuvo las agallas de venir aqui. All those times my boy cried over her, and now-”

“Mami?” She stopped talking and wrapped a few plates in aluminum. “Tell Keith he doesn’t have to leave. He won’t believe me.”

She put her hand on her hip and looked at him. “If he’s uncomfortable, then he can go. But you’re welcome back anytime, mijo, really.” She smiled at him and wrapped him into a hug. “Oh, I can’t thank you enough for bringing my boy back. You stay safe out there, you hear me?”

Keith gulped down the knot in his throat. “Yes ma’am.”

She let go and kissed his cheek. She handed him a few plates and smiled. Then she turned to Lance. “You and me are going to talk later.” He blinked in surprise, but Keith just started for the door again.

Before he could leave though, he heard a voice calling after him. He turned and saw Becca rushing towards him. “Wait!” She pushed a strand of hair away from her face and held something out. “It’s an iPod. I uploaded a bunch of different music, because I wasn’t sure which you’d like. Only Hope is on there too. And, you know, today’s hits. Lance told me you missed music up there, so I thought… I don’t know.”

“O-oh.” He took the iPod and smiled. “Thank you. This is great.” He smiled and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

“Keith, really, you don’t have to go,” Lance insisted.

Keith shook his head and punched him lightly on the arm. “It’s fine. I’ll see you back on the castle. Enjoy your family.” He turned away and climbed into the pod. He took one more look at Lance as he stood in the doorway and pressed Launch when he saw Rosa go up to him.

He had no idea what that feeling was, but he hated it. And he kind of hated Rosa too.

***

Being at Pidge’s house was a lot more comfortable. It was just her and her mom who immediately took a liking to Keith. The woman looked like she’d gotten no sleep in a year, and frankly, Keith couldn’t blame her. Especially if she thought she’d lost her entire family.

Now, Mrs. Holt had her hair up in curlers and her nails were glistening, as were Pidge’s. Pidge had some weird foam separators between her toes which were also glistening in a bright yellow color with black polka dots. She even had makeup on her face, which Keith figured was done by her mom.

“Well, don’t you look pretty,” Keith said as he followed her to her room to help her bring down a few boxes of things she thought she could use up on the ship.

“No teasing,” she muttered.

“I wasn’t!”

She huffed and handed him a box. “So you ever gonna tell me the real reason you wanted to ditch Lance? Another lover’s quarrel?”

“We’re just friends. For real this time. And there was no real reason. I told you-”

“Keith, I managed to sneak into the Garrison as a boy and decoded Galran talk about Voltron. I can see through your bullshit easily.” Keith huffed and she put another box over the one he had. “What happened?”

He shrugged and hefted the boxes. “I don’t know, okay? Some girl who used to date him came and started kissing him, and I got annoyed and… I wanted to leave. I didn’t belong there.” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

She put a hand on her hip and tilted her head. “Did you get this twisted feeling in your stomach? Your chest felt like it was pressing in?” Keith frowned and nodded slowly. “Couldn’t breathe, really sad but really pissed at the same time?” This time, before he could nod, she smirked. “Keith, that’s jealousy. I told you one of you was going to fall for the other.”

“What are you talking about?”

She shook her head and gestured to the stairs. “I’m talking about the fact that you see this girl all over Lance and you felt all these shitty emotions, and it’s because you like Lance and feel jealous.” She pointed to the couch. “Set them there.” Keith did and frowned as he processed what Pidge said. “Come on, I have something for you.” He followed her to another room and looked around at the bookcases and piles of books that littered the floor. “You obviously need to figure out how to deal with and understand your own emotions. I think reading could help you with that.”

“I’m not sure if that’s an insult.” Pidge snorted and went around, pulling out a few books here and there until she had four piles of books that reached her height. “Um.”

“Pick one to read now. The rest will go in the pod.” Keith sighed and grabbed one at random. Pidge helped him carry the rest to the pod.

When they got back, Pidge sat with her mom as she sorted through the boxes and Keith sat down in a different chair, reading his book and listening to the iPod Becca gave him.

Click Here for the next chapter 

[cait-el]

Keith Analysis Master Post

Hi, everyone! I’m going to be doing a series of posts in which I analyze Voltron: Legendary Defender using Keith’s character as a base. On my rewatch, I’ve been specifically focusing on Keith’s storyline, so I’m going to attempt to put everything that I’m projecting thinking into one cohesive storyline.

Before you get invested, I’m just going to say upfront that this will focus on Keith and Lance’s relationship both from what I’ve observed in the show and my headcanons as to where it’s going. These are my opinions! I’ll also include some analysis of the other characters where I see fit, but mostly it’ll be about my boy Keith.

And a quick moment for those who believe that this doesn’t need to evolve into a romantic ship – this is completely valid as well. Not everything has to be taken with a lens towards romance, and I understand that completely. This could be the story of a really strong friendship being forged, but for the sake of creativity and representation, I hope it’s more than that. Being bisexual and a huge ass nerd that is borderline spectrum-y (to use my mom’s words who is a licensed speech therapist who works with autistic kids on a daily basis), I tend to do a lot of projecting. My whole goal in writing all of this about Keith and Lance is so that I can see myself being the hero and so that I can see that it’s possible for people like me to find strength in what I view as my weaknesses. Representation matters more than anything. We don’t need to write books or tell stories about characters suddenly having a change of heart about systemic oppression. We need to write characters that defy these things with their very being, characters who are examples by doing rather than just listening. Okay, that’s my preaching for now. Thank you for coming to my ted talk, here’s seventy eight more hours of me talking.

Ready?? LET’S ANALYZE!

Pre S1E1 / Season One / Season Two / Season Three / Season Four / Season Five

Pre “Return of Voltron”

We’ll start with Keith before Voltron. It’s implied that he already knows Shiro, and that Shiro is like a brother to him (S2e1,8). We also know that Keith’s mother left when he was young, and he doesn’t really know her (S2e8, S5e5). Here’s how I imagine his life leading up to the rescue of Shiro in S1e1.

Keith was a loner kid. He’s smart, but he didn’t do great in school because he was always distracted, or just didn’t want to do the work because he thought it was pointless. He gets in trouble a lot for talking back or just not listening. Also, he’s obsessed with aliens and weird conspiracy theories (I mean you can’t blame him, his mom was a fucking alien spy and his dad probably told him a lot of ghost stories and stuff like that without telling him the whole truth.)

Keith met Shiro when he was pretty young, probably around 12 or 13. Shiro was about to graduate high school, probably on track to go to the garrison (18 or 19). They met because Keith was a loner and bullied a lot for being ‘queer.’ Mostly, he just didn’t like girls, and he didn’t know why. Shiro was there to talk about it because 1) he’s very accepting of everything, and 2) he went through a lot of stuff with sexuality as well. He let Keith tag along on his adventures with the older kids and kept him on track to join the garrison in order to keep him out of trouble. He always told Keith he was smart enough to be the best pilot in the world, and maybe then he could actually see the stars he was so obsessed with as a kid. Keith would talk to Shiro every time he had feelings for a boy, and Shiro would provide that voice of validation and support where Keith’s father could not.

Keith’s father wasn’t a bad man or particularly homophobic, he just grew up in Texas/the South and as part of a time period where being gay was an insult or a stigma, and he just doesn’t get it (think Burt Hummel from Glee). Thus, Keith has a really hard time talking to him about his dating life, which is fine. He’s got Shiro for that.

Then, Shiro leaves on the Kerberos mission, and disappears for a full year. During this time, Keith gets booted from the garrison and makes some…bad decisions. He has his first real boyfriend, and it doesn’t work out (they only date for a few months, but both were in the process of coming out, and both struggled with depression, so it just kind of fell apart. But that’s a totally different thing). He ends up becoming obsessed with the ‘feelings’ he gets form the land and tracking down alien signatures (throwback to his childhood obsessions before Shiro entered the picture) so that he can find Shiro. He needs his brother after the shit year he’s had.

[orrtala]

Post-season 1 mini-analysis of the characters

It's a liveblog! I only finished season one, please no spoilers in the comments/reblogs!

I won’t be going into details here; the proper character and relationships analyses will be written after S2. But, since few people did want to see my opinion about character after S1, and to help collect my thoughts, here’s this little thing.

I’m going with alphabetic order cause why not.

Hunk

First impression: Please tell me he’s not going to be that fat best friend comic relief. He definitely lives up to his name (nickname?) though.

Actually: Sweetheart genius pun-making big beautiful yellow child. Team’s tank and support. Had a really nice character arc. Gut feeling power. Great chef and mechanic. Anxious and nervous, but also strong and ready to be here when needed by space family and Zarkon’s victims.

I don’t really know that much about him? Nothing about his parents, potential siblings, etc. Heck, I don’t even know if “Hunk” is actually his name! DreamWorks I demand justice, give me his backstory! His family, how did he become friends with Lance, just give me something!

At first he was a cowardly lion (…pun not entirely intended,) and didn’t really have a motivation for being a Paladin except, you know, the whole “universe will be destroyed if I won’t do something” thing. But once the things are calm (before the storm) and Pidge wants to leave the team he expresses a desire to leave as well. So he gets an arc. First of all he gets motivation to save Lance, which is personal to him. Then gets to meet Shay, learns how life looks like on the Balmera, what does it mean to live under Zarkon’s rule. And only then it also gets personal for him. Basically if you want this guy’s help you need to shove the rightful issue right under his nose. And boy, the help he delivers. I’m so proud. Hunk used to be an engineer back at the Garrison; he’s quite knowledgeable when it comes to technology. In addition he’s a good cook, so let’s hope Paladins won’t have to deal with green goo all the time in the future. I’m not exactly sure what writers are planning to do with him in a future, since he does have a motivation and means to continue being a Paladin. The continuation of his arc, I think, will need some big event that will result in things for him to overcome. What it’s going to be? No clue right now. On an ending note: he loves puns. And I don’t think there’s a faster way to worm into my heart than being a pun lover.

Katie “Pidge” Holt

First impression: Okay, so is that a boy or a girl? What kind of name is Pidge? Ah, apparently a guy. A guy that gets angry when Kerberos mission is involved. Hmmmm.

Actually: Poor kid who lost half of her family and is determined to get them back no matter what. A genius, a nice kid, MVP who almost single-handedly managed to save the Castle, the Lions, and her space family.

The character with most known background; we know her family, we know that her father and brother were taken by Galra, we know she has a dog, we know her full name, we got some flashbacks about her life for a last year, when she wanted to find out the truth about her missing family. It’s also implied that while she’s a prodigy two captured Holts apparently were also good enough to be chosen for Kerberos mission. Must be genes.

Pidge might be a prodigy, but is also a little kid who just wants to get her father and brother back. An awkward kid, who rambles when she gets nervous and overthinks things, and, similiary to Keith has a little problem with handling other people. At first solely motivated by rescuing her family “I’m not here to make friends” Pidge initially refuses Lance and Hunk’s friendship at the Garrison, but they got through to her, at least partially. When she wants to leave she’s stopped by Lance getting hurt and decides to stay after seeing how much the team (and by extension the universe) needs her and because she actually cares about her new family. As the season went on she got close to Shiro and Hunk, finding a support in them, just like she had with her family back home. She trusts all six of them and they trust and respect her in turn. The future? Working with Voltron and saving all of them multiple times. Won’t stop searching for her family until she finds them.

Keith

First impression: What is mullet. Why does this kid look like Shadow the Human. He’s going to be one of these edgy kids, isn’t he, he has motorcycle and everything. Also he looks too similiar to Lance from Sym-Bionic Titan, let’s hope I won’t have any problem with mixing their names, that would be awkward.

Actually: My poor isolated red kid not used to relying on others. Good instincs, good fighter, bad at socializing, touch-starved, probably autistic. Survivalist who doesn’t really think much of his safety and is ready to be sacrificial when he thinks the situation calls for it.

His background isn’t explored, but I’m pretty sure it was purposeful. He lives alone in a shack after being thrown out of the Garrison and knew Shiro. Most probably an orphan (or at the very least his parents/one of the parents disappeared and we’ll know more about it later). Too many hints made me believe he’s part Galra. And perhaps even has some space magicks?

The right arm, a pilot prodigy, sadly didn’t get an arc yet. If I’d have to guess it will tie-in with his heritage (*cough*Galra Keith*cough*) and finding answers about who he is. He’s not… great with people; he can’t understand some jokes, he yells at Pidge instead of properly reasoning with her in a calm when she wants to leave, and while he’s not bad at coming up with plans, he usually carries them out alone (though he does have his moments of being Shiro’s substitute when he’s indisposed like in the “Return of the Gladiator”, he is a lancer of the team after all.) Dude lived on a desert for a year and was somehow fine with, I presume, very minimal human contact. Self-sufficient person who now has to learn to work with others. And he tries! …Sometimes. One of the things that confuses me about him is his sword training. Where exactly did he get it? He was being trained for pilot in the Garrison, I doubt they thought he needed such practice. Another thing to add to his secret past? I guess so. From what I’ve seen Keith is a person who relies mostly on his instincts and feelings. Once he sets his mind on something he’s going to do it, unless you’ll give him a good reason (good enough for him) to act differently. He does spend at least a few months in the shack, searching for the source of some energy connected to Blue Lion. And he can’t even explain why he does it. However he is thorough with his search, as his cork board has shown. Has an eye for detail and at times can be inquiring. Knows his faults (when Lance calls him out on the actual mistake on his part he backpedals and agrees,) tries to focus on a bigger picture (Voltron vs Allura in the finale, Pidge leaving the team,) ready to sacrifice himself if he thinks the situation calls for it (stalling Zarkon in the finale.) He is loyal to his team, frequently tries to bond with them despite being a loner (pretty much every free time he spends with a team he’s smiling,) and his actions are focused on helping others and, by extension, saving the universe.

Lance

First impression: An embodiment of DreamWorks Eyebrow™, full of false over-confidence, ruins everything with his actions and- did he just protect his teammate and then took the Sergeant Drill Nasty’s ire on himself and was reminded that he wasn’t supposed to be there? Ohkaaaaay. Also really, really pointy chin.

Actually: Child with self-confidence issues, trusts easily, everyone’s friend (unless you’re Keith and only at the beginning, they’re good-ish now!) team’s heart, relies on his eyesight a lot, self-proclaimed laaaaaaadies man. Probably a hipster.

He’s a Cuban with a family he misses very much. We even get a look at them during the mind-melding scene. Tried to be a fighter pilot and only became one after Keith dropped out.

Ah, Lance. Kid doesn’t really know who he is. I mean, if I was compared to Keith so much and then started to compare myself to him too I’d also get confused. His arc, amusingly, is similiar to Keith’s as in it’s also a quest for identity. Except Keith has some knowledge about his abilities and doesn’t feel overshadowed by anyone, but he has no place outside Voltron. Lance meanwhile has a family back on Earth which he dearly misses, but doesn’t know who he is in a team, can’t recognize his talents. And here’s a thing: not only he’s confused, the audience is supposed to be confused too. It’s really weird how these little things point Lance into different directions, when, ultimately (I think,) he’s Blue Paladin. He likes people, he likes paying attention to them, he’s perceptive, observes their reactions. Easily befriends everyone, even when they refuse his friendship (Pidge.) The only exception being Keith, though before S1 ended they became friend-ish despite initial petty hostility (but didn’t really have that much problem with working with him when the situation calls for it from the very beginning - they did carry Shiro out of the tent together after all.) It’s not a coicidence that he’s a person who gets to interact with everyone first - with a sole exception of Shiro, though even their handshake was a focus for few moments. He’s a team player, something that Pidge considers a dangerous trait. I think the moment that showed best how important and valuable he was to the team when he was out of commision. Literally right after he leaves the party Allura learns that Pidge wants to leave Voltron and can not be deterred by anyone else. The fake Rover blows up, he saves the life of a guy he only just met, and everyone are suddenly working together cause Lance is injured he needs a pod, they need a crystal, Pidge doesn’t even hesitate at offering help, and essentialy it’s a Voltron’s darkest hour so far. He’s a heart, he’s a glue to a team. I don’t really want to think what would happen if he got seperated from space family for a long time; nobody would handle it well.

Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane

First impression: Protagonist’s voice. Also nice eyeliner, man! … …Oh no, poor guy.

Actually: Poor guy. Taken by aliens, forced to fight in the arena, has been experimented on, developed PTSD. And yet despite his experiences he’s a good man with a sense of morality. Deep-rooted issues about him being a Paladin and protector of all these children. Doesn’t fear death, not anymore.

We know his full name. We know he is a great pilot, he can be seen wearing a medal, good enough to be chosen for Kerberos mission. Captured by Galra he essentially lost a year of his life and forgot most of it, only recalling bits and pieces. There are no hints about his family and he didn’t think about them when Paladins were looking into each other’s headholes. Could it be that he doesn’t really have anyone? Might be an extra reason how ge got along with Keith pre-show.

Shiro’s a perfectionist, who tries not let others know about his problems, but is ready to solve everybody else’s. And, sadly, he’s not handling his issues very well, choosing to internalize them instead of talking about them to somebody. It makes sense though, not only he tries to look as a steady figure who’s always in control of his actions, not when these kids rely and look up to him, but also when you consider the nature of his troubles. After a year spent fighting, being experimented on, losing his arm, having his appearence changed (and now I’m imagining how he must have felt when he finally looked into mirror and saw all the scars for the first time brain stop please) he’s not sure who he is anymore. And to add to that he doesn’t know what exactly he did during that year. Who knows, maybe he commited monstrosities for the sake of survival and he just doesn’t remember it? Is he enough to be a Black Paladin? He has PTSD, isn’t that a good trait for a leader. And what could they even say if he did spill his problems to them? They wouldn’t even know how to help him, right? Or worse, Sendak was right all along and they actually don’t need him. Despite his inner turmoils Shiro tries, and tries to be a good leader and wants his new family to survive the war, and for the most part he succeeds! He comes up with good plans on a fly, he knows when teammate’s ability is needed, he’s charismatic, he has commanding presence, he helps others and is always willing to listen to them. The only times I can think of that his ideas weren’t that great were a) letting Pidge leave the team and b) I agree that saving Allura was a Right Thing but in the end it did put everyone in danger and if it wasn’t for Thace’s intervention, well… What really gets me when it comes to Shiro, that despite his experiences he’s a good guy. Yeah, I know that all our heroes are the good guys but Shiro? Shiro was put through unspeakable pain and suffering, and yet he has his morals and sticks to them. He’s also the only person who knows how laser guns sounds like. Good on you, Shiro!

Allura

First impression: !!!! She’s so pretty! And will kick your butt. Effortlessly.

Actually: Do you have any idea how much I wish Allura existed when I was a kid? Hands down favorite Disney DreamWorks princess. Headstrong, brave, kind, strong, sad but tries not to show it, lost everything and instead of wallowing in sadness she wants to fight back the best she can.

Her backstory is pretty straightforward: only child of the space elf alien king, her planet and people were destroyed and she spent 10 000 years sleeping. Not much is known about her mother, but I’m gonna go ahead and assume she died before Zarkon turned out evil. Allura remembers her though.

Allura’s not your usual Princess. And I made no secret of how much I love her character. She lost everything thanks to Zarkon: her father, her people, her planet; the only Altean alive besides her is Coran, there are also her pet mice (to whom she is connected, and, uh, I guess it’s a space magicks explanation for her having an animal companions she doesn’t have to sing to; shame, I’d really like to hear her singing,) the Castle and Voltron. That’s it, that’s all she has. Oh, she used to have her father’s AI as a companion but… But… I’m not going to cry again. Our Princess is terrified of the war, but it doesn’t stop her in her quest of not letting Zarkon destroy any more worlds. She’s sad beyond belief, but she puts a smile on her face in front of others. She’s there to have your back, she’s there to fight when she has to, she’s there to save you. Allura has shown on more than one occasion, that she’s ready to die for others (getting captured by Galra so Shiro could be free, healing Balmera though she knew very well it might have cost her her life.) She’s very strong, and very capable in close combat and using her surroundings. …Not much luck with distance weapons. Unless throwing poeple at others can be called figthing at distance. Also she shows promise in using space magicks, and I’m not sure how much it ties to being an Altean, being an Altean royalty, or something else.

Coran

First impression: Nigel Thornberry. A comic relief, bigger than Lance and Hunk.

Actually: Team’s support, probably smarter than everyone else combined, full of pent up anger at Zarkon that we finally got to witness in the season finale. Knowledgeable about many things. Very old, very sad.

Similiary to Allura he lost everything (besides the Princess) after Zarkon destroyed Altea. But I don’t really know the extent of his loss - did he have any family? Spouse, children? Alfor trusted him and Allura apparently was alway close to him. I’d really love to see some kind of backstory episode for this guy, I bet it’d leave us all in tears.

Coran is a tricky case; he’s the least prominent part of the cast, most of the time spent on being a team’s support. And that’s exactly his role, it’s apparently what he was doing most of his life: serving the royal family. First it was Alfor, now it’s Allura. Trustworthy and capable enough to be left with a Princess, a Black Lion, and a quest on flying a Castle to Arus and then freezing himself up as well. That picture above? It’s a first expression he makes, sad, but solemn in his duties. And it last barely a second before starting some background shenanigans with Lance. And since he is an Altean, experienced at that, I don’t think he’d have that much problem with handling down a teenager. He took a look at the situation, saw that Allura isn’t actually in any danger, but just in case presented himself as harmless, so the newcomers would underestimate him. And, I guess, it was also supposed to be audience’s reaction as well: “Oh look, haha, a comic relief.” He actually is a comic relief, but non-offensive, quite astute, with vast knowledge. Treats his duties seriously, and, unsurprisingly, is very protective when it comes to Princess, trying to not let her step right into danger. Also trolls Paladins while trying to teach them something in a process. It’s also suggested that he’s 600 years old (the Castle is 10 600 and Coran’s grandfather took him to see it being built) and while we don’t really know that much about him it’s not out of reach to think he had family on his own before the war. He definitely has paternal instincts towards the Paladins and especially Allura. So yeah, Coran’s there for you whenever you need him, but he’s not going to step into spotlight, rather choosing to help others in achieving their goal.

Tl;dr: I love them all so much.

[ilovelocust]

Alpha/Alpha Verse (Wasn’t It Obvious?)

Note: So trying to bring the other paladins into the Alpha/Alpha verse more.  Figured I’d start with Lance, cest people have been wondering about him and he’s already made an appearance once.

I’m taking suggestions on how Pidge and Hunk should show up.

Heats and ruts came about three times a year.  Exactly when depended on the individual, who they spent time around, stress, and other environmental factors.  Considering that they were a tightly knit group fighting a war on a alien spaceship, Lance’s heat starting at the wrong time was really to be expected.

Still was annoying when Lance had started giving off the beginnings of heat scent in the middle of negotiations with alien royalty.  Keith had called for a break and hauled Lance back to their guest quarters.  They’d become something close to friends in the time they fought together, and friends didn’t allow friends to put off “I’m interested” hormones around strangers they weren’t actually interested in.

His original plan had been to leave Lance there to stew in his own misery and continue negotiations on his own.  They were the only two on the planet, and the Castle wasn’t scheduled to pick them up for two more days.  No point in just twiddling his thumbs or calling for an early pick up just because Lance was out.  He was second in command of Voltron, more than capable of doing the job on his own.

He’d reevaluated, when he’d stepped out of Lance’s assigned rooms to find one of the alpha princesses had followed them.  She hadn’t said anything particularly red flaggish, only inquired after the Blue Paladin’s health, but something had felt off.  He been forced to consider how few omegas he’d seen since arriving as anything but so-and-so’s mate.  He’d seen none in positions of power in their own right.  Maybe he was being paranoid, few in the galaxy would be foolish enough to attack a Paladin of Voltron no matter their sex, but he’d made an executive decision.

Keith had apologized to the princess, saying Lance was sicker than he’d first thought, and walked back in to grab the omega.  The Blue Paladin could nest in his lion, in space, with Red and him as guards, until the Castle came to pick them up.  Someone else could finish off the negotiations.

“Dude, I’m bored. Distract me.” Lance’s voice crackles over Red’s intercoms.  Keith is starting to wonder if he could have just put a pad lock on the guest quarters and called it secure enough.

“Distract yourself.” Keith says. He doesn’t do small talk.  He especially doesn’t do small talk with people too drugged up on their own hormones to reliably hold up their half of the conversation, “Turn off the coms and jack off or something.” He suggests.

“What!” Lance sounds scandalized at the mere thought, “Gross, no, other people use these things.”

“And?  Shiro and I do it.” Shiro and he had been putting the cock in cockpit since back in the Garrison days.  He wonders how Lance would react to knowing what they used to do in the sims he practiced in, “There’s no big manual saying sex shall not happen in the Lions.  Just wipe things down afterward.”

“Are you kidding, Blue would kill me if I did something like that.” Blue was by far the sweetest of all the lions, he highly doubted she’d kill Lance for any infraction, up to and including going full Zarkon.

“I really doubt she’ll care.  Red and Black don’t.” Well at least Red didn’t.  Shiro didn’t really share what Black thought during their encounters, “The worst you’ll probably get is some criticism on your technique.”

“Red has opinions on your sex life?” Lance asks, shock evident. Keith didn’t know why.  Red was sentient and had opinions on everything he did.

“Well yeah, she’s got some thing going, where she’s trying to get one up on Black.  She gets really really happy when I get Shiro on his knees.”  He also got really really happy when Shiro is on his knees, so it’s a win-win situation in his book.

Keith can hear Lance choking through the coms, “Dude! T.M.I. I am not going to be able to get those images out of my head for the rest of my heat.” Lance complains.

“You asked!” Keith says defensively, “Besides, you’re the one being weird and thinking about teammates during heats.”  It isn’t like Keith is unaware that he and his mate sometimes star in other people’s fantasies.  It’s just not something he wants to be reminded of.

“I’m going crazy with horniness, what did you expect when you over-shared?” Lance, as loathe as he was to admit it, has a point.  You can only barely hold folks responsible for what they do during their heats/ruts, much less what they think about, “You don’t even have any room to talk, you’d be doing the same if someone started talking about Hunk and I going at it while you were in rut.”

“I wouldn’t really think about it.  You two aren’t exactly my type.” It isn’t like he doesn’t notice omega pheromones.  They just don’t do anything for him. Not like when Shiro gets aroused and most of Keith’s higher brain functions come to a screeching halt.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance says, offense obvious in his tone, “I’ll have you know I was quite the catch back in the Garrison.”

“I’m not saying anything.” Keith tries to reason, “You two just aren’t my type.  I don’t really go for omegas.”

There was a long moment of silence, “Wait are you gay?” Lance asked quietly.

“Yes?” Keith answers.  He thought his alpha exclusive orientation had been pretty obvious.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner!” Lance shouts, Keith has to turn down the volume to protect his ears, “You just let me run around flirting with you like an idiot.”

“You’ve been flirting with me?” Before Shiro had talked with him, Lance’s interest in his mate had been pretty obvious, but he’d never seen the omega making those sorts of eyes at him.

“Well not anymore, but back at Garrison.” Lance explains, “God, I thought something was wrong with me, the way you always just ignored my attempts.”

“You flirted with me back at the Garrison?” How had he missed this.  Lance flirting was about as subtle as a wrecking ball.  He has to think he would have noticed someone with pick up lines that lame back then.

“Well yeah, you had the cool mysterious loner vibe going.” Lance says like it’s obvious, but it’s news to Keith, “Would it have really killed you to tell a guy you don’t swing that way?”

“I didn’t realize people didn’t know?” Keith says uncertain.  What’s he supposed to do walk around with a badge saying ‘I’m gay’ on it?

“Wait, until Hunk gets here.  He’s going to be just as surprised as I am.”  Lance says with confidence.  Keith somehow has his doubts.

[lxiewrites]

Pidge and Hunk

Altea High Ch. 4

After that unwanted trip down memory lane they moved on from the topic of Keith. Though, just because they did didn’t mean that everyone else did. In between chemical equations and the proper mixing of different elements to make a formula compound cartridge to put in an ice ray whispers floated about the new kid. Just because Pidge can hack into the highest security of an underground government doesn’t mean that others can’t just Google and find the bare minimum.

Unless the students were there when the Garrison had that explosion, and even then the cause was hushed up, the gossip mill was revolving around his unsavory parentage.

I heard he controls fire like Penance.

What did his mom do again?

I bet he’s evil. His parents are evil. He’s going to be.

Why do they even let kids of supervillains at this school?

Lance could feel his mouth twist into a scowl. Sure, he mildly hated him and also felt really guilty about how he treated him and how, strike that first part, he actually didn’t really hate him but wished he did (God he wish he hated him. It would make things so much easier to just be angry with him for almost killing him but he knows that’s not how it went down… Let’s just call it Complicated.) But, those were personal reasons. These people were just judging someone they don’t even know and that’s something he just can’t tolerate.

He just gritted his teeth, slapped on a smile, and bothered his friends throughout the class. As he teased his friends it occurred to him that despite the article they have no idea of his part in the whole fiasco. The newspaper never mentioned him, sure he was looped in the other casualties but none of them were mentioned by name. When he got hurt he didn’t even tell Hunk how close he was to the explosion. His friend since the beginning of time fretted over him for the entire time he was healing, bringing him muffins, helping him with his notes and homework (the school didn’t have the common decency to just pass everyone but just moved the school sessions to another location), and was all around a great friend.

Pidge skipped two grades, the little genius. The next year, after the blow up, she (at the time) entered the Garrison into Hunk and Lance’s grade. It was a group project and at the time she was determined to do the entire thing herself, but quickly learned that she didn’t have to do everything herself. The child prodigy also learned since then that their new friends would have never treated them any differently despite being younger, most likely smarter (at least smarter than Lance), about their powers, or when they came out to them. Since then, they were always a close-knit group bound together by complimentary personalities, a level of understanding, and true platonic love.

Ha.

More like mockery, sarcasm, and mutual caffeine addictions.

It’s not like he couldn’t have easily slipped into another group; he did occasionally (he can’t be this charming without some practice once in a while). With his extroverted personality, ability to make people relax and laugh, and to smooth rough waters he made friends easily. In his opinion, the more friends the better. He had a code though. You do not leave a friend behind. Socially, physically, timely, emotionally or otherwise that is something that he would not do unless they say otherwise. Pidge and Hunk are his best friends and he would never leave them behind even if he had to drag them. They’re the absolute best and with no matter how many other friends he accumulates those two will always be at the top of the chart. He might be flighty at times and stupid (sometimes he wonders how they’re friends with him) but they’re both geniuses and they wouldn’t be friends with him without reason right?

He wondered if he should confess to them his involvement in the explosion back at the Garrison. He wondered for all of two seconds. He did not want them to know. It’s not like he didn’t trust them or anything but this was his thing. He’s not sure if they would look at him the same if they did. He said something that he can never take back again and the results were absolutely catastrophic. Not just to the entire west wing of the school but to other students, teachers, and… Keith.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Honestly, the kid looked like he’s card membership owner to a loner-emo-mysterious-stranger-you-wouldn’t-know-this band Hot Topic with the way he dresses.

It’s just sad.

Lance felt like the walking pile of laundry needed to be in a commercial with The Arms of an Angel playing in the background with an obscure actor asking for donations for this poor boy who doesn’t know how to dress like he’s not in the tundra.

Even with Lance’s inner commentary his stomach still does a sickening flip when Keith finally shown up for class. He should stop giving the guy so much crap, even in his own head, but… it’s like he doesn’t know how. After mentally pitting himself against him for so long it’s like he doesn’t know any other way to act around his rival. Also, it’s not like he can just say, ‘Hey, I did something incredibly shitty to you four years ago but sorry?’

As soon as he walked in the excess chatter dwindled in the room until the only noise was the faint buzz of the AC, even Pidge’s typing slowed down to three words a minute. The brunet noticed some of the other super kids, mainly the ones that don’t have to be on the school’s work-study, scowling or muttering to each other, disapproval painted on their faces.

They were always the type to look down on pretty much sixty percent of the damn population of the school because they, Lance included, could only be at Altea because of the work-study. They could be…okay but times like this Lance felt like he needed to step in. Of course, in a subtle, understated way.

”Oi! Firelord Zuko, over here!”

In his peripheral he noticed widened eyes and raised brows. He smirked.

That’s right people, if you’re going hate on the new guy do it for actual reasons. Like to interact and deem him hateable, like a gentleman.

Keith warily looked at him and took in his other options. From the sneers and anxious looks the only semi-friendly terrain was Lance and his table. Holding the icemaker’s gaze Keith slowly wound his way through the tables and barstools, avoiding feet and stares. He slid in next to Pidge with at least two feet of space between them.

“Wow, Keith. Way to almost miss the first class of the day; there’s only, like, fifteen minutes left. Did you get lost?”

Keith met Lance’s challenging stare head-on, “If someone showed me where the class was like they were supposed to maybe I would’ve been on time.”

“What, you need me to stand outside Shiro’s office and hold your hand to class?” The brunet’s smile just short of mocking.

“Hi, I’m Hunk!”

The two elementals broke their stare down to look at Hunk, who was a little red-faced with a large yet somewhat awkward grin on his face created to hopefully break the tension.

Lance cleared his throat and dodged Keith’s grey-purple-blue (holy crap, just pick a color already) eyes. “Sorry, guys, this is Keith, Keith, the nerd patrol. We actually have a lot of classes with them as well as C lunch.”

Hunk leaned across the table, left arm bracing his weight on the table right arm extended. “Hey, nice to meet you Keith. Uh, my powers are metal manipulation, like, telekinesis but just for metal for whatever reason? If something’s got metal in it I can move it, change it, or whatever. I don’t know if this would be stepping out of bounds but there are welcoming people here so, just know that you do have friends here, Keith.”

Keith looked at the hand before him, which pinkened due to its proximity to his body heat. Foregoing the handshake he merely nodded in the friendly guy’s direction, not meeting his eyes. “Um, thanks, Hunk. That’s really nice of you.”

“Summing up what Hunk meant: ignore the haters, Keith. People can be jerks.” Pidge stopped what highly likely illegal things they might have been doing and stripped off her hoodie before turning to fully face the fire starter, face flushed red in splotches and forehead glistening. “I’m Pidge.” Their head tilted in that way that earned them their nickname. “You have very interesting powers. It seems like you also control heat like heat waves other than just fire; it feels like I’m sitting next to an oven baking at three fifty.”

Keith’s face reddened and scooted a little more away from the tiny person watching them like a hawk. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he mumbled.

Their hazel eyes widened and they leaned forward slightly with a wince, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that was a bad thing. It’s just that your powers are interesting. I mean, mine are pretty lame, they’re communicating with plants. Just listening or talking with them but they don’t really say anything interesting so it’s just mindless chatter unless someone’s mowing the lawn.”

“Why is it different when they’re mowing the lawn?”

“You know that cut grass smell? Well, it’s the grass telling other grass blades that they’re in danger. Because of my powers I can both smell and hear their screams.”

All three boys grimaced at the statement. “Does—does that mean you are, uh, a non-vegetarian?”

They waved a hand, “Nah, plants think of death differently, it’s not really death and kinda a hive mind. To them it’s the part of the life cycle and mowing the grass is just constantly beheading them. Grass is weird, they don’t say much and when my dad or brother mow the lawn I actually just hear a lot of ‘watch out!’ saying they scream was for dramatic effect.”

Pidge’s eyes flick over to Lance and burst into laughter. His eyes were confused slits of blue and his expressive mouth was pursed into a tight line with the corners dramatically turned downwards. “Geeze, all you’ve said to me when you’ve finally talked about your powers is that you could talk to them and ‘plants don’t have gender and neither do I.’”

They shrugged, “I just wanted to use the line and it was a perfect opportunity.”

Lance leveled a stare at the cheeky bird sitting across from them. “We have had this discussion, plants have both female and male parts!”

“And I say to that: semantics! And besides, as a community plants do not acknowledge gender!”

“Uh, I’m not sure how I feel about plants having a community.” Hunk piped in.

Pidge opened their mouth to probably say something mean or snarky when the bell rang. They pouted and started to put away their tech in an already bulky backpack and met brown, blue, and purplish eyes individually. “We are not done with this conversation. And if you’re going to join the squad mind turning down the heat?” They said while ignoring the muttered, “Turn down for what!” from Lance and the worried rambles of plants taking over the world from Hunk.

“Um, well it’s just—I’m not—I can’t—“

“Shhhh! Shush, shoosh, guys, shut up for a moment, the future Mrs. McClain is coming this way.”

Keith watched as the annoying asshole just an hour ago get the absolute stupidest look on his face, dopey grin, half-lidded eyes, all around sappy look. The recipient of that look was a tall girl with dyed blonde pigtails high on her head, black roots showing. She was wearing a teal crop top showing off her abdomen that couldn’t be within the school dress codes; at least with the low-waisted jeans she was sporting. She beamed a smile at the taller boy that was gaping at her. All that Lance needed was a cartoon tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Lance stopped drooling, slicked back his hair, which only fell back into place, and strode over to her with a, “Hey, beautiful, did the sun come out or did you just smile at me?” and shooting them some finger guns.

The weird thing was that the golden-skinned girl actually giggled at that. A far cry when Keith rolled his eyes they almost popped out of his skull.

The short kid next to him with the weird name, Pidge, rolled their eyes too. “That’s Nyma, the girl that Lance is infatuated with. She’s a technopath, which is sooo cool, I wish I was a technopath sometimes.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, but I’m good enough I don’t need it.” They said with a smug smile.

Hunk’s face popped up between them, glaring at the pair. Nyma was actually a little taller than Lance but somehow they still looked nice together. A towheaded guy in baggy sweats strolled up to the pair and Lance seamlessly kept him in the conversation, despite obviously interrupting his flirting. “I don’t like them. There’s something about those two…”

“Lance and Nyma?” Keith thought that Hunk and Lance were good friends?

“No! Nononono, not my bro, Rolo, the blond dude that came up next to Nyma and well, Nyma. There’s something about them that’s suspicious.” The large man tried to squint menacingly at them but just looked more like an angry bunny.

“But, Huunk! Beezer’s so cute!” Pidge started to pull Hunk’s larger arm back and forth. “He has a deca-core CPU, a signal range that can reach Neptune, and so fast. I have to know how Nyma made him. Did I mention that he’s programmed to make coffee too? And has cupholders?”

“Okay, that’s cool,” Hunk relented. “But just because they have a cool robot, which we could make a way better one by the way, does not make them trustworthy!”

“But Hunk!”

“Pidge!”

“Don’t you have Rover?”

“You know I love Rover, he is my child, but I just reprogrammed him from one of Matt’s old robots, we need to build something!”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!”

Keith looked on with amusement as they continued to go back and forth moving from how Hunk is right and always will be right to throwing ideas for a robot at each other. It seems as if they completely forgot that Keith was with them, which he was fine with, he knows next to nothing about robots and he just met them. It’s not as if they’re friends.

He still didn’t know where his next class was though and his guide is still preoccupied with badly flirting with the poor girl. Keith could feel the secondhand embarrassment that Lance didn’t seem to have. He looked down at his class schedule that Shiro gave him.

After this class is Weapons with Steel Spirit or Mr. Ryuu, his civilian name, in room B-340. It seemed that the classes flip-flopped between regular high school classes like Math and English with classes more suitable for powers and combat like Weapons and Terrain Training.

He peeked at where his guide was failingly flirting with his hostage. Or maybe not as failing because she kept humoring him. Should he attempt to find his way on his own? Should he just leave? Pidge and Hunk were still discussing their plans for their robot, would it be rude to leave without saying anything or would they even notice?

Keith started to shuffle to the side, maybe if he moved slowly they wouldn’t notice?

Eh, fuck it.

He spun in the direction he thought is B-340 but hit something akin to a brick wall. He looked up to see someone or something big, hulking, and with a cybernetic arm.

The brick house in front of him barely budged as he turned around shouting, “Watch it!” loud enough for the entire hallway to take notice. After a brief pause people still continued on their way to their prospective classes, apparently used to this guy’s outburst. Some stayed behind to watch with curious eyes as they noticed the new meat standing defiantly against the behemoth.

Black eyes scrutinized Keith from beanie to boots before sneering at the lack of response. Keith merely looked at him, boredom on his face. He knew guys like him, those who thrived off of fear, who thought they were big shots because they were bigger or thought they were meaner or more threatening and that nothing could touch them.

Those mean eyes widened in recognition before baring his teeth in some resemblance of a smile. “Penance’s prodigy, here to start shit like your old man?” He leaned forward, egg and onion breath sucker punching Keith right in the nostrils. “Listen here, reject, you’re not the only one here with a super villain parent or even one with powerful powers.” Keith could feel his nose scrunch with the repeating smell, as well at the words ‘powerful powers’ dumbass can’t even look up a synonym. “I can crush you if I want, so, if you don’t want shit I suggest staying out of my way. Got it?”

Keith looked at the dick with breakfast breath right in the eye. The guy’s wide face taking up most of his vision with how much he was trying to get in his face. Obviously dyed violet hair glinting in the harsh florescent lights of the school, his short bangs damp with sweat. Keith wondered if he could just let himself go just a little bit. To not hold back and really see how much he could just straight up melt this asshole in front of him.

No, no. Bad Keith. He’s not evil and he has kept a lid on his powers ever since they started to get out of control, badly, but no one’s got hurt as much as that one kid that ate it back then. He moved past it. And he’ll never have to see him again for the rest of his life. He just needed to get past this asshole.

“I think… the only thing you need to worry about is getting a mint.”

“Acting like a dick isn’t going to make yours any bigger, Sean.”

A short green figure flanked Keith’s left while a larger presence came up on his right. “Ha, good one Pidge! ‘Cuz he’s a dick and is overcompensating for his insecurities.”

Sean stabbed a finger at the Samoan, “Shut your mouth, Garrett, I wouldn’t say much without your superhero to save you.” A cursory glance over them and the douchebag scoffs, “Whatever, you sidekicks aren’t worth it.”

The trio watches as he struts off with as much swagger as he can manage, all three of them having a simultaneous eye roll at his posturing. Hunk peeks behind them and breathes a sigh of relief seeing how effectively Nyma distracted the charming Cuban. “Thank God Lance didn’t see that. He can’t afford another demerit right now.“

“Oh, come on. Last time was funny,” Pidge said with a half smile.

Keith decided he didn’t want to know. What did was the sidekick insult. “What’s with the comment about being sidekicks? I though Altea didn’t do the hero, sidekick test?”

“Yeah, the school might not do it but that doesn’t stop people, especially other supers with more ‘heroic’ powers, from thinking the school is wasted on us ‘sidekicks’. Guys like, Sean, ugh, I hate Sean. Seriously? Who the heck names their kid Sean? Sean Dach of all things, that’s just asking for him to get beat up if he didn’t have super strength. Anyways, those guys think that the supers who don’t have dangerous powers are weak or that resources are wasted because we can’t take down a building in point oh five seconds. Ergo, since we’re more or less ‘useless’ some call us sidekicks.” The botanilinguist explained.

“Come on, guys, let Lance work his charm, Pidge, that’s not nice, and let’s go to class. We all have Weapons next, we’ll show you, Keith.”

Keith looked between the friendly smile of Hunk and the mischievous smirk of Pidge, both expectant and open. They seem to be vastly different people, not only in size and stature but personality-wise as well, yet both seemed to have accepted him without regard of everything else and despite the initial dislike of their third friend. He didn’t even contribute much to their friend group and is now on the shit list from the friendly neighborhood douchecanoe. He thought back to his conversation with Shiro earlier.

What if I don’t want any friends?

Trust me. Even if you say you don’t want any they’ll come find you. And you will never get rid of them.

Looking at the duo Keith smiled. Small but genuine. “Thanks, Hunk, that’d be great.”

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 

Ao3

[darkspellmaster]

So Season 2 of Voltron and how this is going to play into Season 3 and beyond.

Let me first start by saying that I know I’m late on this commentary, since the season has been out since January, late December even I think, so I’m going to try to make up for that with a lot of thoughts here.

There’s so much here to talk about so let me start with the fact that this whole season has been one about individuality and learning ones place in the team. The three parts of the end of the season are so very important to the overall arc of this season which was really about coming to terms with some form of identity and where the roles of the group lies. In the past season it was all about team work, stressing that they were all individuals that didn’t know how to act as a well-oiled machine, now it’s the reverse of that. While they are a team and can connect to one another, they had to figure out who each person was individually in their own way. The reason why I stress the ending is so very important is that it’s a culmination of that, each Lion acting independent but together and showing that even apart Voltron is a team and that each part, while an individual is strengthen by the bond with his, or her, lion. This becomes crucial at the end as we see the connecting of Shiro fully with the black Lion, allowing him to gain the bayard for the first time in the series.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s start out with the season opener, Across the Universe. In it we are treated to not one, not two, but the start of three story arcs: Keith, Shiro, and Pidge (although the latters is not as dramatic as the former two). In this we see Pidge land in a planet of Junk, or at least it was some sort of plant or something at some point, (I was waiting for Weird Al’s Wreckgar to show up) and find herself going slightly nuts as she tries to figure out how to get out of her situation. What’s interesting here is that she doubles down on her skills to find a way out of being trapped alone. However it’s not her escape that stands out, it’s the fact that she builds her friends out of junk that is important to her arc here. Pidge is very much someone who, in season one, was a loner. She didn’t want connections to anyone while at the Garrison, and had her determined goal to find her brother and father. Yet, by the time the first episode of season 2 comes out she’s grown close enough to her friends that she is inclined to build her buddies as a means of coping. It’s through building these guys that she retains her sense of being and it allows her, (with the help of her tribble like companions) to build a device to get in contact with Allura. This starts off her need to be there for her friends, and also begins her connecting more with her Lion. 

Shiro and Keith on the other hand have a different view point on things. For Keith it’s the start of him trying to cope with figuring out who he is, and his need and connection to Shiro (which will probably be more explored in Season 3) as well as him discovering more confidence in himself. Shiro on the other hand is going through a different arc, he’s not sure of his connection to his Lion and the reliance of the others on him to act as a group. He sees that when he’s injured and realizes that there’s a chance that he could die, and what then. Then there’s the connection between Zarkon and the Black Lion and Shiro’s own worry if he’s actually the person for this job.

Pidge’s story arc mostly culminates by episode 4’s Greening Cube story where she finds a connection to the Green Lion. Pidge being the logical one here views the world though her computer and the idea of nature being a part of that seems to be lost to her. Again it falls into the idea of individuality and how she interacts with herself and her Lion. Her logical views didn’t allow for the Green Lion to access it’s Forest powers until she accepted the fact that everything is connected. That there’s more to the universe then just the sound logic in computations. We see this later expanded upon as in Stayin’ Alive she’s used what she’s learned through the season and makes great use of the new found plant powers on the Robeast that escapes.  Shiro and Keith’s don’t end too early and we’ll get back to them soon.

On the other hand you have Lance and Hunk who end up in their own minor story arcs. In Into the Depths Lance and Hunk are taken in by Mermaids who end up brainwashing Hunk and Lance needs to save him. It’s really the start of Lance’s story arc more than Hunks, who seems to have a minor one here on being an individual. But let’s take Lance’s arc first; during the episode Lance has to use his brain and wit in order to get out of some sticky situations, which leads to him discovering things inside himself that he didn’t realize allowing him to unlock a new attack from the Blue Lion. Hunk on the other hand has to find the courage inside himself later in the season in The Ark of Taujeer allowing him to stand his ground. Lance’s arc comes to at least a minor stop when Shiro acknowledges his skills as a sharpshooter and it at least cements his role (to him at least) as to what he is as part of the team.

Back to Shiro and Keith though, and I’m adding Allura in on this as well. In season one we were shown Thrace as a possible good Galran who wanted to do the right thing and helped the Paladin’s escape, however to Allura the Galran are evil, and this is something that she has to deal with front and center when Shiro remembers how he escaped which leads them to the Blade of Marmora and a meeting with Ulaz, a scientist who helped Shiro get out of the ship. It’s through this meeting that the seeds of some understanding shows up in Allura, but it’s only when Keith’s parentage is revealed that she has to face exactly what has been going on in her heart. It’s an interesting situation between them, Keith and Allura, as we see she shows a willingness to accept both sides of him and continue her friendship with him even in the face of her own fears and being a bigot about the Galra in general.

This moment when Allura hugs Keith shows that she’s matured and grown between the episodes and come to the realization that Keith is still Keith and that he’s willing to protect the team, even at the cost of his own life. 

As for Keith, he’s still learning to accept who he is. In season one he didn’t understand anything and after meeting Ulaz he still didn’t know what to think of the blade that he had, or even why he had it. However as the trials show in the Blade of Marmora there’s more to Keith’s Past, yet he’s willing to take his time in learning of it. What we do know for sure is that there’s a desire in him to find out the truth and that he’s accepted, in part, that his mother was part of the enemy, but clearly someone that cared. There’s a lot to unpack with Keith, and it’s something I want to take my time with discussing later.  The most important thing that changes in him after the trial is his ability to be more confident in himself and standing up to the whole situation with the Blade’s leader, whose name escapes me at the moment, and with Hunk inside the Weblum where he showed a lot of qualities that match with original Voltron Leader Keith (Go Lion’s Akira) and in how he dealt with the Stranger that he met. This allowed him to show a greater responsible role then in the first season where he ran off and nearly got into a lot of trouble. He’s started to think less of himself and more about the team, which is again showing his individuality and at the same time increasing his bond to his Lion.

Shiro on the other hand we see go through a massive spiritual journey through this season. While Keith is struggling with who he is as a person, Shiro is trying to connect with his Lion. At the start of the season, due to what Haggar said to him, he’s a bit lost and unsure about his bond with his lion. This becomes critical when his connection is weak with the Lion allowing Zarkon to manifest a deeper bond with the Black Lion, and let’s them follow the ship. The battle on the astral plane became something very important, I think going into the next season. Zarkon’s hold on the Lion is null right now as he’s been rendered unconscious, however Shiro’s has grown so deeply that he was able to physically retrieve the bayard from Zarkon on the astral plane and for it to Physically manifest in his hand right when they needed it to. This deep seated bond shows that Shiro is not just a physical leader but one that has a pull on the whole team. There is a very Gundam like quality to Shiro in this season, much like Hero and Setsuna with their Gundam’s, Shiro’s connection to the Lion pushed the boundaries of what his Lion is to him. Black Lion is more than an elementals power, it’s the key to holding the whole thing together and for Shiro his whole needing to bond with the Lion and it’s ultimate rejection of Zarkon, shows that Shiro has become more than just a part of Voltron, he’s become connected to the universe.

That’s what I got out of this season. A lot of connections to the individuals of the team, and next season it’s going to focus more on not just who they are solo, but also who they are as friends and team mates.

[sleepysheep80-blog]

Life Guard Hunk Head cannon

Okay so this is just going to be a messy all over the place drabble sort of thing but hear me out. So picture this: Lance, Keith and Pidge are on some planet freeing them from the Glara nothing new here while Shiro and Hunk are giving covering fire. Somehow Lance ends up drowning. Maybe a Glara forces his head under? Maybe the water is really thick and he can’t swim in it? It doesn't matter, use your imagination. So Pidge and Keith are freaking out on the coms like, “Omg help! Lance is drowning what do we do?!?!” and Shiro is playing the calm and collected leader but hes actually freaking out. He says something like, “Okay, just hold on we’ll be there in a second. Don’t panic.” But then Hunk just butts in cause his best friend is in danger and he starts taking charge. “Is he out of the water?” He asks them. Keith and Pidge have never heard hunk sound so serious before and it startles them for a second but they eventually confirm that he is out of the water. “Check if he’s breathing.” Was Hunk’s next order, all the while racing towards them. They tell him he’s not breathing, but there isn’t any kind of reaction from Hunk. They expect some kind of panicking from him but no, its just hard cold concentration. “Ok, are either of you trained in CPR?” They both solemnly say no. I mean Pidge is a 14 year old girl where is she going to learn CPR and Keith is a loner who lives in a desert soooo. “Alright, I’m on my way. I want you guys to lay him onto his side and start checking for injuries. Scrapes, bruises, weird fluids coming from weird places, you name it. And you need to keep him warm. Use whatever you can.” Hunk for once is so in control of the situation and it leaves Shiro shocked and mildly impressed. Of course there’s probably some swearing and tears and anger happening as Keith and Pidge do the instructions Hunk gave to them. If feels like hours but in reality its only a few minutes before the yellow lion FINALLY arrives. Hunk charges out of the lion and is at Lance’s side in seconds. Lance is laying pale, wet, and unmoving under a familiar red jacket. Its been minutes since Lance has moved and he looks so awful that the red and green paladins are sure Lance is gone and there is nothing Hunk could possibly do for him now. But he gets down beside Lance and puts his cheek next to his mouth. The other two just stare at him in wonder. They’ve never seen Hunk like this. He’s dead serious. He isn't the usual afraid, worried, happy, no this is an emotion that they’ve never seen grace Hunks gentle face. They watch as Hunk gives him two breathes of mouth to mouth. He then starts pumping into Lance’s chest in CPR. At this point Shiro has also made his way to the group. He feels rather useless watching Hunk do all the work while he just sits beside him watching. Though Hunk obviously knows what hes doing so he doesn’t interfere. They sit in almost completely silence if it were not for the nearly constant of Hunk mumbling numbers. Every compression he’d count until he reached thirty and then he’d do two more rescue breathes followed by another thirty compression's. Over and over again. They all winced when they heard something crack under Hunks hands. “W-was that his ribs?” Pidge whispers to no one in particular. There was no answer. After an excruciatingly long four minutes, Shiro decided its enough. He can’t watch Hunk trying to revive his dead friend anymore. He leans forward to put a hand on his shoulder. Just before contact Lance starts throwing up. Hunk wastes no time in rolling him onto his side to let the putrid liquid out. Keith and Pidge let out a happy gasp. Hunk on the other hand still has that hard facade. After he finished puking Hunk sticks his fingers into the blue paladins mouth and starts scooping out puke. It makes the other’s cringe but they didn’t understand that he’d choke on it if Hunk didn’t do that. The aforementioned man leans over his best friend and puts his face next to his mouth in an echo of the earlier action. “He’s breathing.” He quietly informs them. It’s the first time they’ve seen his face crack into anything other than seriousness this whole incident. It sends a surge of hope to the other three paladins. “Someone call for a healing pod.” He barks out. “I already did.” Pidge confirmed. Hunk nods and then lightly taps Lance’s shoulder. “Lance buddy. You with me?” He says in an eerily calm voice. He waves his hand in front of his face and snaps a few times. Lance’s eyes flutter open before closing tightly again. He groans before whispering, “H-hunk?” in a broken, raspy voice. “Yeah I’m here bud.” Lance nods and continues to lay down in Hunks presence, who finally seems to relax just a fraction. “Okay lets get you in a healing pod.” He tells Lance and indirectly tells the rest of the team. He lifts up lance in a bridal carry and brings him into the yellow lion. They fly as fast as possible to the castleship. They do manage to get Lance in a healing pod and in stable condition. As soon as Lance enters the ‘Stable” stage Hunk doubles over and starts emptying his stomach. The rest of the crew watched in horror as Hunk wails in utter agony. His cries could not be silenced if any of them even wished to try. They had almost forgot that this man had lost his best friend and then dutifully revived him. The other paladins make there way over to him. They slowly crouch down to the floor as to not startle the emotionally raw Hawaiian. They all gave him a warm and comforting hug. They did not dare break off until Hunks sobs dried out. Coran had brought them all food but none of them felt like eating. They ate anyways. They all camped outside Lance’s pod. The next day, Shiro had enough courage to ask the question they’ve all been wondering. “Hunk, how did you know what to do?” Hunk looks at his team mates before down casting his eyes. “I was a lifeguard before going to the garrison. We had to learn a bunch of first aide,” He lets out a pathetic chuckle, “guess it served me well.” His team mates all look at him with sorrowful eyes before tuning back into their own self destructive thoughts. Once Lance came out of the pod later that day Hunk was right there next to him. Lance let out a weak laugh, “I guess it’s a good thing you were a lifeguard hey buddy?” Hunk just nods.